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Leaving Melbourne & Australia after 13 months
(This is not meant to be a moan or anything as we've not suffered any hardships, just a story of our own personal experience here & why we are leaving. Oh yeah, & don't expect proper grammar either:))
This is going to be long. If you are easily bored, leave now! My wife is Aussie & has UK & AUS passports. We both came round Oz on a 1 year working holiday 2002-2003 (Perth, Melbourne, Hobart, Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns & tons of smaller places in between) then went back to Scotland. I didn't settle properly initially, so when my wife suggested applying for an AUS spouse visa it seemed like a good escape route. However, the motivation that I got from applying for the visa & being granted it made me realise what I had in Scotland! (I love Scotland, the wife & I are like a couple of American tourists, always in the tartan-tat shops at the weekend). So then I wanted to stay in Scotland. Definitely. However my wife still wanted to move, the deal was 5 years then back to Scotland (her mum & younger brother are there, Dad & older brother in Perth, W.A.). She had her heart set on Hobart as we spent 4 months there living & working the first time around. However, I had a more realistic view & knew it wouldn't be right for us. And sure enough it wasn't, so I told Trish after 3 weeks it was Melbourne or back to Glasgow (I still love Hobart though!). So Melbourne it was. Have been in a shit flat in South Yarra since June 2006, Trish has been in 3 shit (albeit nicely paid) jobs, & I work in Austrlia's largest university which is the most highly disorganised place I have ever worked in (and I as an organised person could not have stuck this place out for long). So what we were looking at was this: getting back into the mess that is searching for another rental in Melbourne, so we could share a block with another shower of randoms, both get new jobs, and all this even though we had decided anyway to leave by Mar 2008. Add to this the fact that our landlord wants to up our rent from $350 to $380 a week for the worst flat I've ever stayed in (narrowly beating a damp ground floor Glasgow tenement we once stayed in) then it was a no-brainer for us. The fact that my wife is in the early stages of pregnancy meant that we had to leave sooner rather than later as well. It wasn't as if I've "had enough of Melbourne", more that I personally have always felt slightly underwhelmed here. I'm most definitely not moaning, I wouldn't change the experience for the world & have no regrets whatsover. Although we came the closest we have ever been to splitting up, our marriage is now stronger than ever before. We have met some lovely people, and bizarrely enough I will always think of Melbourne fondly (as long as I don't have to live here). If you've read all that you deserve a medal (or a paracetamol). Anyway, Melbourne, like any other major city in a 'liberal democracy', has plenty to offer, both good & bad. Billy |
Re: Leaving Melbourne & Australia after 13 months
Originally Posted by mackinnon
(Post 5010429)
(This is not meant to be a moan or anything as we've not suffered any hardships, just a story of our own personal experience here & why we are leaving. Oh yeah, & don't expect proper grammar either:))
This is going to be long. If you are easily bored, leave now! My wife is Aussie & has UK & AUS passports. We both came round Oz on a 1 year working holiday 2002-2003 (Perth, Melbourne, Hobart, Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns & tons of smaller places in between) then went back to Scotland. I didn't settle properly initially, so when my wife suggested applying for an AUS spouse visa it seemed like a good escape route. However, the motivation that I got from applying for the visa & being granted it made me realise what I had in Scotland! (I love Scotland, the wife & I are like a couple of American tourists, always in the tartan-tat shops at the weekend). So then I wanted to stay in Scotland. Definitely. However my wife still wanted to move, the deal was 5 years then back to Scotland (her mum & younger brother are there, Dad & older brother in Perth, W.A.). She had her heart set on Hobart as we spent 4 months there living & working the first time around. However, I had a more realistic view & knew it wouldn't be right for us. And sure enough it wasn't, so I told Trish after 3 weeks it was Melbourne or back to Glasgow (I still love Hobart though!). So Melbourne it was. Have been in a shit flat in South Yarra since June 2006, Trish has been in 3 shit (albeit nicely paid) jobs, & I work in Austrlia's largest university which is the most highly disorganised place I have ever worked in (and I as an organised person could not have stuck this place out for long). So what we were looking at was this: getting back into the mess that is searching for another rental in Melbourne, so we could share a block with another shower of randoms, both get new jobs, and all this even though we had decided anyway to leave by Mar 2008. Add to this the fact that our landlord wants to up our rent from $350 to $380 a week for the worst flat I've ever stayed in (narrowly beating a damp ground floor Glasgow tenement we once stayed in) then it was a no-brainer for us. The fact that my wife is in the early stages of pregnancy meant that we had to leave sooner rather than later as well. It wasn't as if I've "had enough of Melbourne", more that I personally have always felt slightly underwhelmed here. I'm most definitely not moaning, I wouldn't change the experience for the world & have no regrets whatsover. Although we came the closest we have ever been to splitting up, our marriage is now stronger than ever before. We have met some lovely people, and bizarrely enough I will always think of Melbourne fondly (as long as I don't have to live here). If you've read all that you deserve a medal (or a paracetamol). Anyway, Melbourne, like any other major city in a 'liberal democracy', has plenty to offer, both good & bad. Billy Good luck back in Scotland and with the pregnancy :) |
Re: Leaving Melbourne & Australia after 13 months
Hi Billy
Nice one taking the time to post that. The use of the word 'underwhelmed' was one I've never thought of b4, but a good one. Also, saying you'll think fondly of Melbourne if you dont have to live there - made me smile that, know what you mean. Good luck with the baby and with settling back in xxx T |
Re: Leaving Melbourne & Australia after 13 months
Good luck to both of you ...both concerning your return, and your baby.
Give my love to Trish :) Cas xx |
Re: Leaving Melbourne & Australia after 13 months
You should not ever apologise for your posts, you are not moaning you are stating what is happening and has happened to you.
As for the tartan, when I flew up to Glasgow last year I was amazed at all the tartan stuff and loved it. And when I finally got to meet a Highland Cow - that was the icing on the cake for me! Angry looking creatures with a ginger fringe:rofl: Go back to where you feel happy and make no apologies for it. |
Re: Leaving Melbourne & Australia after 13 months
Originally Posted by mackinnon
(Post 5010429)
(This is not meant to be a moan or anything as we've not suffered any hardships, just a story of our own personal experience here & why we are leaving. Oh yeah, & don't expect proper grammar either:))
|
Re: Leaving Melbourne & Australia after 13 months
Thank you for posting.
Wishing you all the best back in Scotland. |
Re: Leaving Melbourne & Australia after 13 months
Good luck with it all Glasgow is a great city and i can see why you miss it im from Aberdeen but admit i prefer Glasgow if we return in the future i would consider a move there.
Good luck with the pregnancy also!! kezx |
Re: Leaving Melbourne & Australia after 13 months
Good luck with it all.
|
Re: Leaving Melbourne & Australia after 13 months
Hi Billy
...when you first started to post I thought you were a right moaner (!) but you have really grown on me. :) I hope that you get everything you wish for in terms of contentment when you both get home. Sometimes you need to be away from home to see/feel what it is that really motivated you/matters. Good luck with that baby....great joy to come. N |
Re: Leaving Melbourne & Australia after 13 months
Good luck to you, your missus and the bubs. :)
|
Re: Leaving Melbourne & Australia after 13 months
Originally Posted by mackinnon
(Post 5010429)
Anyway, Melbourne, like any other major city in a 'liberal democracy', has plenty to offer, both good & bad.
Billy |
Re: Leaving Melbourne & Australia after 13 months
It was great to have shared a few beers with you and Tass along the way Billy. Not suprised that your going back, I'm just suprised it took me so long to realise that the UK had became liveable again. I blame the EEC, which had little or no influence on my life in the UK from 1955 to 1980.
Best of luck, it's a pity that Tass and Sharon cannot have one last session on the shots. At least we both ended up with Aussie gals ;) |
Re: Leaving Melbourne & Australia after 13 months
Originally Posted by mackinnon
(Post 5010429)
(This is not meant to be a moan or anything as we've not suffered any hardships, just a story of our own personal experience here & why we are leaving. Oh yeah, & don't expect proper grammar either:))
This is going to be long. If you are easily bored, leave now! My wife is Aussie & has UK & AUS passports. We both came round Oz on a 1 year working holiday 2002-2003 (Perth, Melbourne, Hobart, Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns & tons of smaller places in between) then went back to Scotland. I didn't settle properly initially, so when my wife suggested applying for an AUS spouse visa it seemed like a good escape route. However, the motivation that I got from applying for the visa & being granted it made me realise what I had in Scotland! (I love Scotland, the wife & I are like a couple of American tourists, always in the tartan-tat shops at the weekend). So then I wanted to stay in Scotland. Definitely. However my wife still wanted to move, the deal was 5 years then back to Scotland (her mum & younger brother are there, Dad & older brother in Perth, W.A.). She had her heart set on Hobart as we spent 4 months there living & working the first time around. However, I had a more realistic view & knew it wouldn't be right for us. And sure enough it wasn't, so I told Trish after 3 weeks it was Melbourne or back to Glasgow (I still love Hobart though!). So Melbourne it was. Have been in a shit flat in South Yarra since June 2006, Trish has been in 3 shit (albeit nicely paid) jobs, & I work in Austrlia's largest university which is the most highly disorganised place I have ever worked in (and I as an organised person could not have stuck this place out for long). So what we were looking at was this: getting back into the mess that is searching for another rental in Melbourne, so we could share a block with another shower of randoms, both get new jobs, and all this even though we had decided anyway to leave by Mar 2008. Add to this the fact that our landlord wants to up our rent from $350 to $380 a week for the worst flat I've ever stayed in (narrowly beating a damp ground floor Glasgow tenement we once stayed in) then it was a no-brainer for us. The fact that my wife is in the early stages of pregnancy meant that we had to leave sooner rather than later as well. It wasn't as if I've "had enough of Melbourne", more that I personally have always felt slightly underwhelmed here. I'm most definitely not moaning, I wouldn't change the experience for the world & have no regrets whatsover. Although we came the closest we have ever been to splitting up, our marriage is now stronger than ever before. We have met some lovely people, and bizarrely enough I will always think of Melbourne fondly (as long as I don't have to live here). If you've read all that you deserve a medal (or a paracetamol). Anyway, Melbourne, like any other major city in a 'liberal democracy', has plenty to offer, both good & bad. Billy |
Re: Leaving Melbourne & Australia after 13 months
Originally Posted by mackinnon
(Post 5010429)
and bizarrely enough I will always think of Melbourne fondly (as long as I don't have to live here).
Billy really good post mate. i doubt if there anything that anyone could pick holes in. your reasons for leaving are as honest as anything i have heard on here, and i wish you all the luck in the world:) |
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