Originally Posted by earlneath

Thanks for your help and suggestions, Carl. I'm sure we'll be able to find an area we really like as soon as we have had a chance to get on the ground and have a scout about! You can search on real estate web sites for ages but to get a feel for a place you have to go there and walk around. These forum posts about places do help bridge that gap!

I browsed around on the connex timetables to work out how far out I can get in 30 mins. Sandringham seems to be the limit Bayside, but occasionally there are trains to Cheltenham that take 30 mins. Caulfield is well within - as far as Ormond or McKinnon on that line and then further up Glen Iris or Alamein. Still further back from the coast Camberwell is no problem - Box Hill or Burwood seem to be about the limit. So in summary there is a wide area! Elsternwick's 15 mins is about the same as Camberwell, but I suspect we will find a coastal location attractive!

Is there anywhere hilly with views on the inner East Side or Bayside, or is it the whole area flat?

Originally Posted by Issie

Great post Carl ....i remember the vodka drinking days when Cas was already in OZ and i know how tough it must have been for you two( it was tough on us lot enduring your 70 posts aday ). But you got through it and no one deserves it more than you two.

You made it happen .......you are living the dream.

Wishing you many many more happy years in Australia, your home

Originally Posted by Spikey

I think I seldom smiled when I was living in Crewe It's got to be one of the most miserable places in the UK.

Originally Posted by Shakmaty

I bet you smiled when you were leaving

btw, Stoke on Trent is no better.....

Originally Posted by earlneath

...but you could say the same thing about most places - nearby there are some lovely areas (Northwich, Nantwich?); it depends on your circumstances. I'm sure the same could be said of parts of Melbourne even...

Originally Posted by earlneath

...but you could say the same thing about most places - nearby there are some lovely areas (Northwich, Nantwich?); it depends on your circumstances. I'm sure the same could be said of parts of Melbourne even...

Originally Posted by Shakmaty

This is of course just my opinion but I found the 'better' areas of Cheshire quite snobbish and stand-offish. One of the problems in settling in Cheshire was the lack of acceptance into the village community that we lived in. Sure, it was beautiful, clean, a good location next to the Peak District, with Manchester 20 minutes drive away, Birmingham less than an hour away and a couple of smaller towns nearby. But we really made no friends there. I worked part of the time in Crewe and never made real friends there, my wife worked in Stoke and never made real friends there either, and we were barely on speaking terms with anybody in our own village.

Our life and lifestyle has changed since moving to Australia, so that may be a factor in the equation, but it just seems easier to talk to people here and make friends here. The area we live in now is quite a desirable one to live in and we have had no problems making friends here with british expats, other immigrants, and local aussies. However, I have spent some time in 'not so desirable' Noble Park, near Dandenong, and have made a number of friends there too. This might be partly to do with me, but I reckon Melbourne and it's ethos has something to do with it as well

Carl

Originally Posted by Spikey

I think I seldom smiled when I was living in Crewe It's got to be one of the most miserable places in the UK.

Originally Posted by Shakmaty

2 years ago, I was stuck alone in a house in Cheshire with virtually no furniture, no TV and no work as my job in the UK was seasonal. Cas had left for Australia about 3 weeks previously on a 457 to start a job and I stayed behind to sell our house at a time when it looked an impossibility (2 buyers had already backed out). It took another month for me to get to Australia with the house sold, all UK ends tied up and 2 bags full of stuff (Cas had already taken 2 bags before). It was probably the most depressing 7 weeks of my life, the weather in the UK was abysmal that winter and I spent most of my time posting on BE (I racked up nearly 10000 posts as Fireeater and was posting over 70 a day ) and drinking vodka. I arrived in Melbourne on the 1st of March 2005, leaving the UK at a daytime high of 0C and meeting a 37C day here in Aus. The jetlag and temperature change wiped me out for about a week, but there was no rush to do anything so I recovered and very soon began to consider my new country as home. In fact, my first bout of homesickness came when on a validation trip to change our visa from 457 to PR. Going to Auckland to do this, I felt homesick for Melbourne.

Like a number of people who go to Aus, I had never been before. I didn't know what to expect and wasn't sure what I was going to do. In the UK I was a circus performer, which is not the most highly desirable job. However, I came to Melbourne with an open mind and soon met people and found friends/acquaintances. Job hunting was always going to be a problem but I got a lucky break when my hobby turned good. Since I was a kid I have been playing chess, and there is a network of chess classes extracurricula in schools around Melbourne. The company needed more coaches and I applied and got a job. Tomorrow, I am starting my own franchise of this business in Melbourne. How this will pan out I don't know, but like everything else in this adventure, I reckon it's worth the risk.

I suppose because of the kind of work I do, it somehow doesn't quite feel real. It feels like one big holiday. And having friends/family regularly over from the UK has prevented me from taking anything for granted here. Had some friends here over New Year and they commented on how wierd the mynah's were, and how different the magpies are, let alone how amazing the parrots are. Smelling the eucalypts after a downpour is still wonderful, and then being told off for thinking that 25C was quite cool. Saying that, I'm fully settled here in Melbourne. I can happily go to the coast, trek in the nearby hills, peolpe-watch from a cafe, spend time at open-air festivals, go to watch sports, sit in pubs etc. With work I've travelled across Victoria, all over Melbourne, to Brisbane, Alice Springs, Canberra with Sydney likely the next place.

All in all, it has been an adventure come good. Were my eyes open coming to Australia? I'd have to say no. I was certainly more in the being 'pushed from the UK camp' than being 'pulled to Australia camp'. But since being here the specs have gradually rosed. I'm not saying it's perfect, but for me Melbourne feels like a home where the UK certainly wasn't. And when I left nearly 2 years ago, that was what I was looking for, a place to call home. I have tried to be as outgoing as possible and have found the majority of Australian's to be friendly in return. A far cry from the Cheshire village where we never really accepted into the community.

Good luck to all you adventurers,

Carl

Originally Posted by Wendy

Great post Carl, I was just the same about the UK and can totally identify with the rest of that (obviously not the bit about Melbourne ).

Every day I wake up with a smile on my face, and when I look out of the window I can't believe how lucky I am to be here

Here's to coming home

Originally Posted by thebears

Its nice to know people are finding happiness Oz is not for all but its so good to hear when it is for folk.

Originally Posted by Shakmaty

I have tried to be as outgoing as possible and have found the majority of Australian's to be friendly in return.
Carl

Originally Posted by stuckinblighty

Ahhh your the bloke ive seen fire eating in the Cov top


That makes you a double weirdo

All the best

Lee