Mrs Kiwi

Hi all

we arrived in Oz on 3rd April this year and we are very happy so far.

We have not been disappointed with our choice of Hervey Bay. I possibly would not recommend it to anyone in their 20's as at that age I would have wanted a better nightlife. However we are now in our 30's and love going out for meals, or drinks, and having barbies at friends houses, and we have all of this and more in Hervey Bay. It is also a lovely place for those with kids.

My two main concerns about the move to Oz before getting here were finding jobs and making friends. Fortunately, we have been lucky in both areas. My hubbie is a spraypainter and found work through a fellow expat 2 weeks after arriving. I found my job in a bank through door knocking and CV dropping and I cannot recommend this enough as a means of job hunting, I really can't. It is very daunting walking into places saying you'd like to drop off your CV etc.. etc.. but well worth it. I got a couple of interviews and a couple of phone calls, plus a few people that said they might need people "soon" so I would have chased them up had I not landed my current job.

We have made good friends through the local expat scene we met via this website. There is a really good social scene and there is always something going on.

The local Ozzies have been nothing but friendly. In fact, when I started my job in a bank here all the customers wanted to chat non stop, either about me being a Pom, or about me being the new girl and I kept thinking, this is great but if I chat too much I'm bound to make mistakes, being new. And making mistakes in a bank is not a good thing!

I have thoroughly surprised myself by how easily I have settled in and how much I love it here in Oz. I was completely realistic before coming here, I think, mainly due to the fact that I lived in New Zealand for a couple of years 10 years ago and made a few mistakes there that I was determined not to repeat here in Oz. The main mistakes I made in NZ were (1) comparing everything in NZ to the UK and (2) not going out of my way to adapt or make friends.
I am also 10 years older now than I was in NZ, I found it too quiet for me then but now I love the slower pace of life.

Are there downsides? Yes, but very few as far as I am concerned. We are renting here in Oz and having been homeowners for years in the UK we didn't realise how hard it would be to to live in a house that you can't tinker with! Still, we will buy hopefully in the next 12 months so we just have to be patient.

My hubbie likes Oz too but is taking longer than me to fully settle and I worry about that. The ironic thing is he says he is missing the UK and hes not even from there! Hes a Kiwi who I met in NZ and dragged to the UK 8 years ago. Hes done a fair bit of moving, from NZ to the UK and now to Oz and he says part of him is scared to start feeling settled here in case I drag him off again. I can understand that and I just hope he fully settles in time. Hopefully the proximity to his family in NZ will help, and we've a few trips to family in NZ booked. He took a while to settle in the UK at first and ended up loving it so I'm hoping the same will happen here.

I don't miss the UK much at all, I miss certain people but even thats only when we speak on the phone, on a day to day basis I don't really feel home or people sick and I feel guilty about that. My mum is coming here in 2 weeks time for 3 months which will be fab, so I haven't worried about her being in the UK without me as much as I thought I would.

Well, thats it I think. As I write this I am sitting on the deck listening to the sea, as we have found a lovely rental backing on to the beach in Hervey Bay. I feel incredibly lucky. Two years of constant research, worrying, and emotions in the UK was worth it.

Good luck to everybody who is going through that now.

Safin

Glad you're happy here!

lyndhurst

fab update...

nbn8

Brilliant post thanks

Sally Simpson

Lovely update, well done!

Cookster

WOW that was lovely...... makes me think I would go for it if I didnt already live here!!!!!

Oh just thought I`d add that I was contacted by a long lost cousin from Northern Island the other day and told I have family living in Hervey Bay!!!!! How strange is that. Cant wait to meet them!!!

Angela

Homebird

Glad you're enjoying it. Just out of interest is your hubby a car paint sprayer? Can I ask what the wages are like if so please? (Have been told varying figures). Thanks in advance x

minibelle

This could be me lol, gald all is going well.

We are 10 months in, only problem for us we both work in Maryborough so i dont feel we are getting the most out of Hervey Bay yet.

minibelle

Buzzy--Bee

You and me are peas in a pod.


You and me are peas in a pod.

You and me are peas in a pod. (OK.. it's my wife...)

You and me are peas in a pod.

You and me are peas in a pod.

You and me are peas in a pod.

Will you give me a ring sometime please? Have you still got my number? I want to have a yarn with you!

Buzzy

Mrs Kiwi

Buzzy, just got your reply above, have PM-ed you.

Homebird, my hubbie is a car sprayer born and bred (almost!) but here in Oz he paints car trailers and also now trains as thats the first job that came along.

Wages depend on whereabouts in Oz you are, I think. We're in Hervey Bay which is notoriously bad for wages. I have been told that in bigger cities car sprayers take home $1000 a week roughly after tax deductions. My hubbie doesn't earn that here in the bay but hes not that far off it, either.