Not gonna be a long one this.

Landed in Melbourne June 9th 2008 and after a year renting in Pakenham we bought a house in Berwick (yes we've gone upmarket )

Me and the missus both work full time and the kids are at school.Kids are very settled and seem to enjoy it here..my lad loves AFL Wife also seems to like it here.
As for me i'm seriously underwhelmed by the whole thing.Heres a list of pro's/cons.These are only my opinions and quite frankly i couldnt give toss if people agree...

Pro's

Climate - love the back end of summer and all of Autumn.Warmer all year round
Beaches on the Mornington Peninsular - i wanted to move here but the missus won
Relative 'safe' feel of Melbourne

Cons

Work - pay/conditions worse than in the UK
Geographical position - friggin miles from anywhere in Aus let alone the rest of the world.
Social side - Bbq's in the garden and thats yer lot...miss the pubs/pub atmosphere.
Family - The biggy for me ( wont go into details )
Schooling - Shite...too 'touchy feely'.Kids seem to do bugger all work.
Houses - Piss poor build quality.Cold in the winter and hot in the summer.
Cost of living - If you think Blighty is expensive then dont come to Aus.Total lack of competition (banking,supermarkets etc)
Aussie 'pride' - Aus is the best place in the world...end of .What a load of old bollocks Goes way over the top to he point of being embarrasing.

I could waffle on for ages but i wont bother.If the family was'nt happy we'd all be on a plane back home but it looks like i'm gonna have to suck it up for a while.
Two more (long) years and the kids can get citizenship and then take it from there...home to England hopefully.

After reading all that i've just wrote i'm not totally down on Aus its just that i really dont think moving to Aus has been worth all the aggro mentally,financially,emotionally etc.

Home is where the heart is...so so true

Thanks for reading

Lee

Disagree on every point, particularly schools, cost of living. Different strokes fer different folks I guess.

hat even disagree on his pros?

Different strokes, as you say. I can't comment on schooling, but the rest of it sounds pretty spot on.

I know exactly where you're coming from, Lee

The low population of Australia makes it a delight for me. However, that same small population also means low demand, higher prices, no competition and very high transport costs.

You can buy well known Aussie wines cheaper in Tesco than you can here because of the huge volume of sales.

If you have another 2 years anyway, see how you are after 4. It took me that long to become wholly positive.

However, on the schools front (maybe just VIC?) - you are spot on. There is no challenge for the kids at all, especially the brighter ones. Mind you, there are fairly hopeless schools in the UK as well.

Hope you feel better sooner rather than later.

Thanks Polly...Atleast someone understands

got to say that i totaly agree with you, however i do like it here and feel settled so i put up with things, your points are very true with schooling ect. good luck with things.

Do you think there would have been fewer cons and more pros if you had won perhaps? If you had your heart set on the Peninsular then the disappointment may have magnified other negative perceptions.

BB

I hear you Lee
Iv'e been here 5 years, waiting for that magical feeling settled moment.
Well it's never surfaced. Now i feel as if i am stuck here. Other members of the family like it Eldest daughter now 15 and half, i can't disrupt her education now...wouldn't be fair.
I feel as if i have lost myself along the way
Your not alone!

Maybe Buz maybe.I do love it down Mornington way . Berwick was the practical choice by the missus

I feel exactly the same regarding that 'settled' moment...cant set it ever happening TBH

Chin up

Lee

Could of written all this myself, agree with all your cons and if I had a choice would also like to live in Mornington...also stuck here for the forseeable..your not alone

Cons are spot on, especially the 'aussie pride' crap.

Pros, well were not in melb now however its among the better bits if you have to live in oz.

Make sure your 2 years dont turn into 10

spot on, I have come to hate this place more ever since I went to work, my god I use to get more wages 15 years ago, & trust me when they say part time it means sod all, I have never worked so many hours in my life, as the hours dont go by weekly but fortnightly.

I want to get the hell out of here, but I'm stuck because of children & hubby likes it here.

we are almost on our 3 rd State move I cant see that would bring happiness for me but I give it one more go, you never know pigs might fly too.

Totally agree. Particularly the whole 'underwhelmed thing', and the negatives of being away from family. We are planning to go home next year

But if we hadn't come, we would always be saying 'what if' so im not looking on it as a bad decision. Its an experience which has made me realise whats most important to me, which is being close to my family. Home is where the heart it as you say.

.[/QUOTE]

Spot on posting, v accurate, glad you think the same.