hitchcock71

i left the uk 1 yr ago today and made it to perth 2 days later


the first 6 weeks was the really hard - mr hitch went straight to work a few days after we arrived = which left me at home with 2 kids under 4.

mr h employers had paid for us to come over and paid for a relocation expert to settle us - she was fab and we found a really good house - which we actually put in an offer on - to rent and buy after 6 weeks - the day of signing the contract they pulled the plug ! which happend to be on a sat afternoon = the estate agent came through for us and let us look at a house that was not actually on the market for rent - we loved it the owners agreed to let us rent it and we moved in on the monday -

our rental furniture arrived the next day - 2 weeks later our container arrived which made my kids happy - and gave me some sanity again -

2 weeks later christmas - which we spent in our blow up pool and had barbie for christmas dinner and it was lovely = it was hard not being around family and friends
i personally wanted to go home - i knew no one
i was told by someone to give it 6 months and if istill found i hated being here then to go home - i am so glad i did


in feb little master hitch started kindy = i went down to the agm for p&c and became the president !
we started playgroups and i finally made friends and started to feel at home again

i went to the expat meeting in jan and made friends with some of them - you know who you are and thank you for being my mate



in may of this yr we finally found our 'home' and its not a new build it needs work on it - but it just felt right -

we have the best neighbours in the world - a few weeks after we moved in another family moved in over the rd and they have become the whole family's best friends - they have kids the same age as mine

i am active in a charity for the local area and i have done a talk for a group of highschool students who are struggling at school because of homelife etc and i am going to their graduation in dec which i am so proud of

mr hitch parents have been over and they are due over again in a few weeks

my mates in the uk i miss sooooooooo much but i have made friends in au who i love

i have a cat who though does not replace my cat that i had in the uk she is lovely and i am glad that i rescued her

i am so glad that i didn't go back to the uk and that i did stick it out - as i love my life it was hard - to settle but now that i have - i never want to go back to the uk


for those of you that have just arrived - and that our struggling - give it time you will find your legs and you will make friends



thanks for reading this

love tiff

Gems

Wow is it a year already.
Glad your now enjoying your life in Australia and you took the time to settle.

It does take time to settle, Im at home with kids too. It took a bit longer to make friends than people make out (Aussies are the friendliest people in the world) Took me a while but now meet up with other mums and kids regular.
In fact just got back from picnic at the park.

Glad it worked out well and you have got some place called home.

Gems

Sam

WOW HItch

1 year...that has gone so quick

it was good to meet you back in Jan..sorry we havent got around to doing it again


may be some time soon??

hitchcock71

sam you coming to the kings park meet in nov?

Gina123

Cant believe you have been there a year. So pleased to hear you are getting settled! We are moving over to Melbourne in 4 weeks providing 457 visa comes through!
Can I just ask you if you are still on 457 visa or have you got PR now?

Great to read your update!

Gina xxx

hitchcock71

thank you for reading

as to your questions

yep still on a 457 - going for pr next year



Good luck on your 457 and your move to au xxxxx

it is so worth it in the end

CEM

Great post. That story was me 9 years ago, right down to the first Christmas on our own looking at each other, thinking 'is this it?'.
Congratulations!
C x

mindblower

[[/QUOTE]

A heartening post for sure.

hitchcock71

thank you all for reading and for giving the time for your comments x

Jaycee1

I can't believe it is a year!!!
Seems like everything is working out well for you and you are settling really well.
All the best for the future and thanks for sharing
J x

hitchcock71

thank you and good luck on your application and your new life down under - will look forward to reading your 1 yr on

JOHN G BLOOM

Hey good to read your update it seems like a lifetime ago we met at the halfwayhouse.