Originally Posted by dolliedimples

Oh yeah..good luck with your driving test,fingers crossed for you.. I took mine in Whalley Range no one way systems like in Sale..much easier, apparently Sale the hardest test centre.

Originally Posted by juss44

Cheers.......

Originally Posted by sallyclaire

I grew up in Timperley too!!! Can't imagine why we all leaving?!
I went to St Hughes & then Loreto in Altrincham but think I am few years older than you guys!

Lovely post Dollie dimples, very honest! Wish you continued luck

Originally Posted by dolliedimples

Hiya there to all my fellow expats, I have recently discovered this fab website..boy, I wish I had known about it before!! I have felt inspired to write after reading from Happy 4 who I have total empathy with struggling in Melbourne..We arrived in Oz 3 years ago, I am a nurse and saw some recruitment ads for Oz..being of an impulsive nature I thought 'oh why not give it a go probably wont get it anyway..thats what dreams are made of' so I did and wow I actually got it!! Oz was Oz I didnt care where we went..thoughts of sunny days, beaches, kids learning to surf, pool in the garden..wow we felt like we had won the lotto..so my hubby, 2 kids aged 18 months and 3 years, myself, our double pushchair and a mountain of luggage arrived at Melbourne airport on a 457 visa and our adventure was about to begin!! We rented a house down in Elwood and spent our days off discovering Bayside and St Kilda of course which we loved and still do. Luckily for us our kids were small so we had a bit of flexibility where we lived, but Melbournes not what we had emigrated to the other side of the world for..wheres the lo vely beaches and surf? Everything at work was fine for me, but socially we felt isolated. We missed family and friends, a pint(or a good few) at the local boozer on a Friday night, my girlie nights out..the holiday was over and home sickness was kickin in big time..then we experienced winter. We sat in a room huddled up in blankets coz we didnt think we were gonna need jumpers and coats moving here(please take note if reading this in England)no reverse cycle air con just a gas fire to heat the whole house..this has to have been the most testing of times ever! The thought of moving back to good old rainy Manchester was gettin more appealing by the minute..what were we doin? Thankfully we decided to inquire about our perm. res before making any decisions..I had been informed by my employer that sponsorship from them would tie me into a further 2 year contract and that at this point it was a bit of a daunting prospect..but, good news, I was informed by the dept of immi. that employers sponsorship is done so at their own risk as once a PR visa has been granted theres nothing that they can do to keep the employee if they didnt want to stay(I think they can request repayment of any fee assistance). So that was that..we will apply for our PR and see what happens. Well, Im quite sure many of you are aware that thisnt the easiest most straight forward procedure ever, but totally worth it. Several months later when I got the phone call to ask us to go and collect our new visas the overwhelming feelings of bein lotto winners again surpassed all the negative doubting thoughts we had looming over us for the last few months..we had a new injection of excitement pulsating thru us. First step..'seek.com.au' for a new job in Qld -here we come. Never been there, but hey, we'd never been to Oz before either!! 5 weeks later we arrived, a coach took us to where we were staying. . within an hour of arriving we had passed some of the most beautiful beaches and as we got off the coach a flock(?) of lorikeets flew past and we knew at that point we had made the right decision..the Gold Coast was gonna be our home, that was 18 months ago and we have both settled into our jobs..Im a nurse at the GCH and had heard some mighty worrying things about QLD HA before arriving here but can only praise all the staff, my daughter was an inpt for several weeks and the tx she received was superb..We have recently bought a house in a fab suberb called 'Pacific Pines', short drive to the beach, theme parks with cheap annual passes so the kids never get bored..great camping and walks..kids love the school.. mind you never seen such a huge primary but very well organised..dont have my pool yet.. but theres room-hee hee!! I did go back to England and loved seeing everyone..didnt seem 2 years since I last saw my mates and after a couple of benders at the weekends I began to miss my sunny days, relaxed lifestyle here and realised that we had made the best decision and couldnt wait to get back to my new home. Still do get homesick but look around and see the natural beauty, sunny days, kids playing outside and the parrots.. I will never tire of seeing the lorikeets and cockatoos, morning coffee outside over looking my palm tree(im easily pleased) and feel so lucky to call this home..I have to say my lack of friends and social life is my next mission so role on out these meet ups please so I can start to build up a fab social life..and make some new friends. Hope to meet you all soon, Ive been reading your meet ups and you sound like a fun barmy lot..bye for now xx
Happy 4.. if you have read this I hope it gives you some hope and food for thought, good luck

Originally Posted by chasingthedream

Originally Posted by dolliedimples

Hi Mags...
Great to hear from you...when are you plannin to come over?
There are a few hospitals in the area mostly in Southport...theres loadsa changes going on here..
a new hospital being built..but not completed till 2012..not on the same site as the present one..
theres loads of 'discussions' about transport and how to improve it..trams or buses..a lack of public transport is huge and the roads are congested..no parking etc..its in the papers daily!!

Pacific Pines is brill..do drive to work, depends on shifts can vary from 15 to 45 mins!!!

What area do you specialise in?
Are you lookin for work before leaving?
PM me with your details and I will get you some contact names if you need any assistance..
a good job website is www.seek.com.au
Good Luck and hope to meet up with you next year...
lol Sarah x

Originally Posted by johnpod

Hi Dollie

Great blog - sat in cold damp Poole dreaming of warm sun and cold beer. we are heading to the GC on 4th Dec - Permanent visa, OH is a podiatrist and job hunting at the moment. I am a pharma rep and will also be job hunting once we arrive and i get the girls (12 and 14) settled. We are hoping to settle in Pac Pines as well and strugling at the moment to find a rental - we have a holiday let till 22nd Dec and then homeless. We have tried to get the girls into A B Paterson College - fine for youngest but no place for eldest!!, so we are hoping to get them into Pac Pines High - do you know anything about it??

Would love any info you have re the area, accommodation and schools. Are there any meet ups planned for around the christmas/new year times - have a horrible feeling that we are going to really find it hard - no family, no permanent home, no home comforts (everything in a container) and possbly not even a home of any sort!!

We too are chasing a dream and have major wobbles at times - just been home to Derbyshire this weekend to say good bye to friends and rellies so wobbles are at about 7 on Richte scale this morning, your blog really helped to remind me why were putting ourselves through all of this.

Would be good to hear of anything good in the area to keep our spirits up till we arrive

thanks

Ali