|
5 months in Melbourne!
I loved reading these threads before we got here so I thought it was time I did one myself!
We arrived in Melbourne on the 13th September 2006, we being me, hubby and my 2 sons Jamie 17 and Jack 16. Hubby was born here but left when he was 2 yrs old! he'd always wanted to come back and after my boys experiencing problems with the "yoof culture" in the UK we jokingly said lets emigrate :eek: Hubby came over for a reccie in 2005 and we trusted his judgement that we would love it here :unsure: !!! The morning we arrived it was absolutely freezing, it probably felt colder because we had just had 3 fab days in steamy Singapore. We were booked into the Big4 in Coburg and absolutely no offence to anyone that lives in Coburg but it doesn't give a very good first impression of Australia. I was weeping buckets by the time we arrived at the holiday camp and the boys were eerily silent!!!!!! If someone had handed me a ticket I would have been on the first plane back to the UK. The next couple of weeks were a bit of a blur, one thing I can recommend is to get a hire car with a sat nav as we wasted untold hours getting lost even with a Melways! We were very lucky in that we found a house to rent in the first week in a very nice area. There then followed 5 weeks of sleeping on airbeds and sitting around on camping chairs!! not a lot of fun but slowly becoming a distant memory now! We bought 2 cars, basic kitchen essentials and a huge tv and just spent as much time as possible driving around getting to know the area. Did all the usual stuff, centrelink, driving licences, doctors etc and it was all very easy and nothing to get stressed about. The day our container arrived was a very happy day! we had toyed with the idea of bringing nothing but it was so comforting to see all our possesions again,,, especially the bed and the sofa!!!! A lot of it has gone into storage as it doesn't seem worth unpacking a lot of it to hopefully pack it all up again in a few months plus most rentals don't allow you to put up pictures and mirrors etc. We only had 2 things opened at customs,, a large wicker elephant which they allowed through :blink: and a box containing my sons guitars. Our gas BBQ which we chucked on at the last minute and hadn't even cleaned properly got through with no problems!! Then reality set in,,, it took my husband 4 and a half months to find a job, it was heartbreaking watching him apply for so many jobs and go along to so many interviews with no results. He finally started work 2 weeks ago and I'm pleased to say he absolutely loves his job! Yes he has had to take a step back down the job ladder but he's working for a bigger company so hopefully there will be opportunitys for promotion. It also means we have had to hold off buying a house as we had to use a lot of our savings to live on but such is life! Both the boys have struggled, it seemed like a good idea to emigrate when they were 14/15 but fast forward 2 years and it was a whole different ball game. The youngest one had been playing up at school in the UK, he had the "well I'm going to Australia so I won't bother here" attitude, and then carried on playing up when he got here. I have to say his school have been amazing, they were all ready to kick him out in December but they have given him a chance to redo year 10 and after lots and lots of talking (from me!) he seems to have gone back this year with with a whole new attitude. It helps that the kids and teachers here are very laid back and unjudgemental. My eldest son has struggled the most. His last year in the UK was the best year of his life,, he had fantastic friends, he was in a band and had an amazing social life. Watching him say goodbye to all his mates was one of the hardest moments of my life. As soon as his guitars and computer arrived here he disappeared into his room only coming out to eat. He literally spent 4 months refusing to leave the house and I was on the verge of getting a pyschiatrist in I was soooo worried about him. Thankfully he has been accepted on to an advanced sound engineering course at NMIT which he started yesterday and he already seems like a different boy. Its costing us a fortune as myself and the boys are here on temp visas which means we have to pay full fees for everything , he doesn't even get student discount on the trains but I would pay 3 times as much just to see him happy again. I can honestly say that the first 2 months here I was unhappier than I have ever been and wept and wailed some days like a banshee but all of a sudden everything seems to be coming together. The boys are happy my husband is happy and that makes me happy! I have made a couple of friends , I have a garden full of parrots that I chat to like some mad woman and I have seen so many beautiful places in the short time we have been here, and am filled with excitement at all the beautiful places yet to be seen! Emigrating is such a rollercoaster of emotions but once the roller coaster slows down Australia is a fantastic place to be. I would love to go back to the UK for a visit sometime but I honestly couldn't imagine going back to live there now. Sorry,,,didn't mean to ramble on!! thanks for reading :D |
Re: 5 months in Melbourne!
Thanks for posting your update its lovely to read these when you are waiting to come out and I never get bored reading them - would be happy for twice as much!
|
Re: 5 months in Melbourne!
Lovely to read your experiences, thanks for sharing.
J x |
Re: 5 months in Melbourne!
Originally Posted by rebnatoli
(Post 4374078)
Thanks for posting your update its lovely to read these when you are waiting to come out and I never get bored reading them - would be happy for twice as much!
Poppett44, well done getting over your problems. You seem to have really wanted to make things good rather than just admitting defeat when things get tough. I'm sure your lives will be very happy:) |
Re: 5 months in Melbourne!
Thanks for a great update. Glad things are settling down for you. Hope you continue to enjoy your new life in Oz.
Joex |
Re: 5 months in Melbourne!
Great account! Very realistic because you described all the ups and downs.
|
Re: 5 months in Melbourne!
Poppet, it seems like you have been on the roller coaster somewhat mentally but from you positive approach you are well & truly on your way with the family.
i hope Australia brings you & the family happiness for the future, as it has done for us i would never consider returning to the UK just keep the chin up as most of us do and all will be Ok in the end regards arthur |
Re: 5 months in Melbourne!
Glad to hear that you are settling now. I can fully empathise about the boys as we have had so many problems with our 17 year old son and after nearly 18 months the good times seem to be slowly out numbering the bad ones. Everyone else settled really well here, but for Sam he had to overcome the culture shock of Brussels to Belgium along with the move from city to country and he didn't do very well. Most of the time he is OK at the moment but every now and again he will slip back into a depression for a week or so before pulling himself back out of it. He has returned to year 11 this year after a disasterous attempt last year and now he has a local girlfriend I hope that he can begin to settle properly but it is still up in the air a bit.
Good luck Nicky |
Re: 5 months in Melbourne!
That's a really good heartfelt post - I'm glad things are on the up :)
|
Re: 5 months in Melbourne!
Originally Posted by Poppett44
(Post 4373746)
I loved reading these threads before we got here so I thought it was time I did one myself!
We arrived in Melbourne on the 13th September 2006, we being me, hubby and my 2 sons Jamie 17 and Jack 16. Hubby was born here but left when he was 2 yrs old! he'd always wanted to come back and after my boys experiencing problems with the "yoof culture" in the UK we jokingly said lets emigrate :eek: Hubby came over for a reccie in 2005 and we trusted his judgement that we would love it here :unsure: !!! The morning we arrived it was absolutely freezing, it probably felt colder because we had just had 3 fab days in steamy Singapore. We were booked into the Big4 in Coburg and absolutely no offence to anyone that lives in Coburg but it doesn't give a very good first impression of Australia. I was weeping buckets by the time we arrived at the holiday camp and the boys were eerily silent!!!!!! If someone had handed me a ticket I would have been on the first plane back to the UK. The next couple of weeks were a bit of a blur, one thing I can recommend is to get a hire car with a sat nav as we wasted untold hours getting lost even with a Melways! We were very lucky in that we found a house to rent in the first week in a very nice area. There then followed 5 weeks of sleeping on airbeds and sitting around on camping chairs!! not a lot of fun but slowly becoming a distant memory now! We bought 2 cars, basic kitchen essentials and a huge tv and just spent as much time as possible driving around getting to know the area. Did all the usual stuff, centrelink, driving licences, doctors etc and it was all very easy and nothing to get stressed about. The day our container arrived was a very happy day! we had toyed with the idea of bringing nothing but it was so comforting to see all our possesions again,,, especially the bed and the sofa!!!! A lot of it has gone into storage as it doesn't seem worth unpacking a lot of it to hopefully pack it all up again in a few months plus most rentals don't allow you to put up pictures and mirrors etc. We only had 2 things opened at customs,, a large wicker elephant which they allowed through :blink: and a box containing my sons guitars. Our gas BBQ which we chucked on at the last minute and hadn't even cleaned properly got through with no problems!! Then reality set in,,, it took my husband 4 and a half months to find a job, it was heartbreaking watching him apply for so many jobs and go along to so many interviews with no results. He finally started work 2 weeks ago and I'm pleased to say he absolutely loves his job! Yes he has had to take a step back down the job ladder but he's working for a bigger company so hopefully there will be opportunitys for promotion. It also means we have had to hold off buying a house as we had to use a lot of our savings to live on but such is life! Both the boys have struggled, it seemed like a good idea to emigrate when they were 14/15 but fast forward 2 years and it was a whole different ball game. The youngest one had been playing up at school in the UK, he had the "well I'm going to Australia so I won't bother here" attitude, and then carried on playing up when he got here. I have to say his school have been amazing, they were all ready to kick him out in December but they have given him a chance to redo year 10 and after lots and lots of talking (from me!) he seems to have gone back this year with with a whole new attitude. It helps that the kids and teachers here are very laid back and unjudgemental. My eldest son has struggled the most. His last year in the UK was the best year of his life,, he had fantastic friends, he was in a band and had an amazing social life. Watching him say goodbye to all his mates was one of the hardest moments of my life. As soon as his guitars and computer arrived here he disappeared into his room only coming out to eat. He literally spent 4 months refusing to leave the house and I was on the verge of getting a pyschiatrist in I was soooo worried about him. Thankfully he has been accepted on to an advanced sound engineering course at NMIT which he started yesterday and he already seems like a different boy. Its costing us a fortune as myself and the boys are here on temp visas which means we have to pay full fees for everything , he doesn't even get student discount on the trains but I would pay 3 times as much just to see him happy again. I can honestly say that the first 2 months here I was unhappier than I have ever been and wept and wailed some days like a banshee but all of a sudden everything seems to be coming together. The boys are happy my husband is happy and that makes me happy! I have made a couple of friends , I have a garden full of parrots that I chat to like some mad woman and I have seen so many beautiful places in the short time we have been here, and am filled with excitement at all the beautiful places yet to be seen! Emigrating is such a rollercoaster of emotions but once the roller coaster slows down Australia is a fantastic place to be. I would love to go back to the UK for a visit sometime but I honestly couldn't imagine going back to live there now. Sorry,,,didn't mean to ramble on!! thanks for reading :D Thank you for sharing these things and I am so pleased that you have come out the other side and are settling. We hope to go to Mount Eliza area I have family and cousins who were born and raised all their lives in Oz and we hope they will help us settle. Good luck and please keep us posted ! Cheryl |
Re: 5 months in Melbourne!
Originally Posted by Poppett44
(Post 4373746)
I loved reading these threads before we got here so I thought it was time I did one myself!
We arrived in Melbourne on the 13th September 2006, we being me, hubby and my 2 sons Jamie 17 and Jack 16. Hubby was born here but left when he was 2 yrs old! he'd always wanted to come back and after my boys experiencing problems with the "yoof culture" in the UK we jokingly said lets emigrate :eek: Hubby came over for a reccie in 2005 and we trusted his judgement that we would love it here :unsure: !!! The morning we arrived it was absolutely freezing, it probably felt colder because we had just had 3 fab days in steamy Singapore. We were booked into the Big4 in Coburg and absolutely no offence to anyone that lives in Coburg but it doesn't give a very good first impression of Australia. I was weeping buckets by the time we arrived at the holiday camp and the boys were eerily silent!!!!!! If someone had handed me a ticket I would have been on the first plane back to the UK. The next couple of weeks were a bit of a blur, one thing I can recommend is to get a hire car with a sat nav as we wasted untold hours getting lost even with a Melways! We were very lucky in that we found a house to rent in the first week in a very nice area. There then followed 5 weeks of sleeping on airbeds and sitting around on camping chairs!! not a lot of fun but slowly becoming a distant memory now! We bought 2 cars, basic kitchen essentials and a huge tv and just spent as much time as possible driving around getting to know the area. Did all the usual stuff, centrelink, driving licences, doctors etc and it was all very easy and nothing to get stressed about. The day our container arrived was a very happy day! we had toyed with the idea of bringing nothing but it was so comforting to see all our possesions again,,, especially the bed and the sofa!!!! A lot of it has gone into storage as it doesn't seem worth unpacking a lot of it to hopefully pack it all up again in a few months plus most rentals don't allow you to put up pictures and mirrors etc. We only had 2 things opened at customs,, a large wicker elephant which they allowed through :blink: and a box containing my sons guitars. Our gas BBQ which we chucked on at the last minute and hadn't even cleaned properly got through with no problems!! Then reality set in,,, it took my husband 4 and a half months to find a job, it was heartbreaking watching him apply for so many jobs and go along to so many interviews with no results. He finally started work 2 weeks ago and I'm pleased to say he absolutely loves his job! Yes he has had to take a step back down the job ladder but he's working for a bigger company so hopefully there will be opportunitys for promotion. It also means we have had to hold off buying a house as we had to use a lot of our savings to live on but such is life! Both the boys have struggled, it seemed like a good idea to emigrate when they were 14/15 but fast forward 2 years and it was a whole different ball game. The youngest one had been playing up at school in the UK, he had the "well I'm going to Australia so I won't bother here" attitude, and then carried on playing up when he got here. I have to say his school have been amazing, they were all ready to kick him out in December but they have given him a chance to redo year 10 and after lots and lots of talking (from me!) he seems to have gone back this year with with a whole new attitude. It helps that the kids and teachers here are very laid back and unjudgemental. My eldest son has struggled the most. His last year in the UK was the best year of his life,, he had fantastic friends, he was in a band and had an amazing social life. Watching him say goodbye to all his mates was one of the hardest moments of my life. As soon as his guitars and computer arrived here he disappeared into his room only coming out to eat. He literally spent 4 months refusing to leave the house and I was on the verge of getting a pyschiatrist in I was soooo worried about him. Thankfully he has been accepted on to an advanced sound engineering course at NMIT which he started yesterday and he already seems like a different boy. Its costing us a fortune as myself and the boys are here on temp visas which means we have to pay full fees for everything , he doesn't even get student discount on the trains but I would pay 3 times as much just to see him happy again. I can honestly say that the first 2 months here I was unhappier than I have ever been and wept and wailed some days like a banshee but all of a sudden everything seems to be coming together. The boys are happy my husband is happy and that makes me happy! I have made a couple of friends , I have a garden full of parrots that I chat to like some mad woman and I have seen so many beautiful places in the short time we have been here, and am filled with excitement at all the beautiful places yet to be seen! Emigrating is such a rollercoaster of emotions but once the roller coaster slows down Australia is a fantastic place to be. I would love to go back to the UK for a visit sometime but I honestly couldn't imagine going back to live there now. Sorry,,,didn't mean to ramble on!! thanks for reading :D |
Re: 5 months in Melbourne!
Thanks for you post. we are almost three months in Melbourne (Rowville) now and very happy. Keep waiting for the 'reality' thing to bite but so far so good. Glad things have took an upturn for you and your family.
Could I be cheeky and ask for the details of the sound engineering course your son has started. I looked for one when we first arrived and the only one I could find was in Sydney. Many thanks and good luck Mike H :) |
Re: 5 months in Melbourne!
Originally Posted by Mike H
(Post 4388513)
Thanks for you post. we are almost three months in Melbourne (Rowville) now and very happy. Keep waiting for the 'reality' thing to bite but so far so good. Glad things have took an upturn for you and your family.
Could I be cheeky and ask for the details of the sound engineering course your son has started. I looked for one when we first arrived and the only one I could find was in Sydney. Many thanks and good luck Mike H :) Hi Mike, my son is taking advanced sound engineering at the NMIT at Fairfield,, hope that helps! |
Re: 5 months in Melbourne!
Originally Posted by Poppett44
(Post 4373746)
Sorry,,,didn't mean to ramble on!! thanks for reading :D Good luck with the new job to hubby:thumbup: |
Re: 5 months in Melbourne!
Mike there are a number of Uni's doing sound engineering im almost sure Deakon on Burwood Hwy do a course if not ask them they will help if they can.
we have been here for 10 years now we are from blackburn lancs. we also live in rowville a small world indeed regards arthur |
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