Originally Posted by mandtooz

Well it seems logic to time my update with my first years anniversary.

A yr ago we arrived in brisbane with 7 cases and 3 children, full of excitement and hope for our new life in australia. Prior to coming to oz i was an avid BE poster (under different name) and thoroughly investigated everything i could possibly do from the comfort of my computer. Im quite obsessive about my investigating and list writing etc etc

So our first impressions were wow! weather beautiful, clear blue skys, absolutely breathtaking ocean, the children loved it, we breathed australia! ok the shopping centres were a shock, supermarkets etc, but haho we thought cant have everything we thought...............

We were so busy the first few weeks, sightseeing and doing touristy things, as well as the mundane jobs like TFN and medicare.... next came hubby securing work. Rung round lots of places keeping his options open, lined up a few interviews, all seemed positive. Managed to secure a rental in an area we liked and got the children all in school, kindy etc we loved it here....we saw some uk known friends go back to england (two families actually) and we thought they were mad........

Then!!...................hubby got caught up in one big political battle , he had gone to two interviews in two different areas (but they are all government run, so one main boss), and basically the director for each place wanted him -great you might think...........no - terrible news for us!! the two directors jobs were coming up, they were amalgamating the posts, and only one of the directors was going to get the job, so as you can probably see by now it got nasty! he was basically told if he didnt accept this one job (in a sh** hole) then it would scamper any future career prospects in queensland, we had a fifty fifty chance, which bloke did we back!!! We chose wrong, hubby got temp contract at the sh** hole with the one director and it was the other director who kept his job!!!! so as you have probably guessed by now the one who kept his job was pretty miffed with him!! Work life was made so uncomfortable for him, he left and got snapped up by a private company.........brilliant we thought, we can breath.

Things from here went down hill, we felt it was a constant battle, i dont want to appear negative so wont go into the nitty grittys!! Australia just wasnt what we hoped it would be, we found life harder - much harder.........hubby was having difficulties at work adjusting to their ways, he found his work backwards, he says like england 10-15yrs ago which is very challenging when in your career in england you saw the practice moving along with the times, and then you come here and your catapulted back 10-15yrs........, i am a midwife and found practising over here a real eye-opener , our youngest was having problems with kindy, then the continued struggles contributed to nit picking as you do.............and the moaning started! lol

This all came to a head january and we decided to give it till june then make a decision, and Junes come and we are going home! things are no better and to be really honest im tired now of everything, when you are planning to come here it takes over your life, and in fairness we have now devoted over 3 yrs in total, when you count the planning, application, house selling process.........and i cant take anymore!!!

Its the end of a dream, but we are happy with the time we have spent here, we have no regrets and have had a yr full of fantastic experiences, since january we made a list with the help of BEs search engine of places we would like to see, and we finished it a few weeks back, even did the big drive to sydney and back again!!

Learnt some great lessons in life and become a closer family, our marriage has gone through some huge strains coming here, but on the whole we are better people, we can see things from both sides now!! We have made some fantastic friends here who i will miss with all my heart, you know who you are Our children have had a year to remember and we have given them so much in the way of experience, opening their eyes to other countries, and im so lucky to have given them this year.

Im so excited to be going home!

mandxx

Originally Posted by mandtooz

oh hard one to answer in a thread! i will point out that this is my experiences, in the hospital (s) i have worked at, may not be the case everywhere!! my get out clause lol

my experiences differ in everyway possible, antenatal care, with gp or at hospital with obs, very little midwifery input, intrapartum care - americanised, watch the health channel on sky! lack of post natal care - no comm midwife here anyway.
As a midwife you are in essence an obs nurse, an example, lady post cs, 24 hrs gone by, you want to get her up, cath and IV out - STOP ask the dr!! in the hospital i work at, i have to check with the aneasthetist.............its just very frustrating!
its not awful and im sure i could get used to it, its certainly easier, less stressful, just not as rewarding but when you have been trained for yrs, its hard to adjust , in all honesty if it was me alone who was struggling here i would have put up and shut up! its not that bad that i couldnt, i just dont want to, i worked hard as im sure all midwives do to get their skills, and i havnt sutured, cannulated, scrubbed etc for over a yr!

are you a midwife thinking of making the move?

Originally Posted by sammyg

ps. bring your wellies and ditch your sun cream - its shocking weather here at the mo

Originally Posted by cj23

Hi mandtooz, did you post under different name on the sep/oct 05 thread? seems like ages ago now! Sorry to hear its not worked out for you in Australia and all the best for returning to the UK.

Cath

Originally Posted by scousercarol

Yes I am a midwife thinking of making the move. Sorry to hear it did'nt work out for you. Were you working in a private or public hospital?

Originally Posted by midwife2be

Great/sad post

Like you've pointed out you've had a great year and at least you know now its not for you and your family, surely better than living a life of 'what if?!'

I've just qualified as a midwife and have a job in Perth (not many in UK for you when you return ) the idea is we try it and see, we'll never know otherwise will we?

Good luck to you and your family

Originally Posted by mandtooz

no you wouldnt and i wouldnt want to put you off!! its a fantastic experience......

Im lucky i guess i have a fair few yrs experience and have a few job offers back in blighty, so i will be fine for work, which is lucky for me.

goodluck in your move, i presume you are going via 457 route? if your newly qualified? goodluck either way

Originally Posted by mandtooz

no you wouldnt and i wouldnt want to put you off!! its a fantastic experience......

Im lucky i guess i have a fair few yrs experience and have a few job offers back in blighty, so i will be fine for work, which is lucky for me.

goodluck in your move, i presume you are going via 457 route? if your newly qualified? goodluck either way

Originally Posted by midwife2be

I'm glad you've been lucky enough to get job offers in the UK and hope everything works out for you. I live in the NW of england and there are very little employment opportunities, I havent even managed to get any bank work since qualifying in April

Most positions want experience but how are you supposed to get that At least if it doesnt work out for us in oz I'll have some under my belt (so to speak!!) and hopefully in a better position to get work if we return. I am going on a 457 (no other option I believe) but hope to get PR asap!

Originally Posted by why

hello i am a midwife tooo... lived and worked in both uk and aus private and public... have had lots of good and bad bits in both countries have been back and forward.....what is it with there not being any midwife jobs in uk? what about health visiting (which is what i do now?)... i would say from all the posts i have read on here coming over to aus isn't all it's that wise these days... i think its' the living standard has gone up in UK and not in Australia so people who come here now get disappointed easily...i came out20 years ago to sydney and it was a great adventure... complicated by meeting and marrying my husband who is also English....everyones stories are different.... i was always frustrated working in aus as a midwife as there is very little scope for professional development and midwives don't have the same (practitioner role here) that's why i got out into community.. it isn't health visiting here either (the child protection system is very different ie not good at all)....it's a male medical model and we are just there to mop the brow!!!!there have been some good changes in midwifery in the passsed few years though and i saw an ad this week in adelaide for a group practice midwife.. the only trouble is it's still only a level 1 RN which is crap..$40,000 plus...got to go anyway...good luck......