comet555

Our story is a bit different to most of yours so I'll have to give a bit of background before I start.

First off, we're not from the UK like most everyone on here. We are Canadian and unfortunatley there aren't many websites like this for Canadians going to Oz so I've been on here since we were in the planning stages. This website (and the people) have been fantastic and really helpful every step of the way.

Background

I'm 30 and my husband is 29, we have two little kids (the oldest just started Prep). We came out here on a PR visa because we wanted the security, the perks (Medicare) and the option of citizenship if we wanted to stay. We came out with the opposite approach that most people take. Our thought was we'd come for a 2-4 and see what it was like. If we really loved it and wanted to stay then we would, otherwise we'd head back. We sold our house in Canada and left all of our furniture with our in-laws (free storage). It was simply cheaper to buy new stuff than it was to ship it, and since we didn't know how long we'd be here we decided just to store everything.

The other thing that makes our move a bit different is that we still love Canada. We never left because we didn't like it or were looking for something "better", we simply moved because we wanted to experience something different for a while. The kids were young and it seemed like a good idea (and it was).

The Move

We tried job hunting while in Canada with no luck. My husband is a mining engineer so we thought it would be easier, but unfortunately no one was interested until we showed up in Australia. So we sold the house and decided to go to Australia for a month, if he didn't find a job in that time we were going to go back to Canada. We'd already sold the house and put stuff in storage so if we did go back to Canada we were going to relocate to a different area of the country. After 2-3 weeks in Australia my husband landed a job in Brisbane so we changed our return flights for our first trip back to Canada. I had spent a year or so planning our move and I never considered Brisbane as a possibility because there are no mines, so I had a lot of quick researching to do once we arrived.

More to follow........

comet555

Initial Expenses

Our expenses for the first month were pretty high because everything was done like we were still on vacation. So we had stayed in quite a few hotels over that time, usually for 2-3 days at a time. We were travelling along the East Coast to check out a few areas while my husband had job interviews. So lots of driving and hotels, it was interesting with a 3.5 year old and 9 month old but we managed just fine and tried to make it as fun as we can. So we had a hire car for a month and hotels for a month which really adds up. Added to that was the cost of eating out for every meal, although with two little kids we spent a lot of time at McDonalds to keep them happy.
Once we knew there was a job in Brisbane we travelled up and found a rental in a day. We only wanted one for a few months so we were looking for the shortest lease we could get in the Bayside area, preferably near a train line. So in the first day I found one that had a 4 month lease that was walking distance to a train line, it was actually a pretty nice house so we took it. It took a couple weeks on camping furniture until we managed to furnish the place with the basics. We didn’t ship anything so everything had to be bought from scratch. It took a bit of time but we did it and it really wasn’t too bad, except for the cost of course! After 3 months in the rental we slowly starting moving our things over to our new house that we bought in Capalaba.

First Visitors

We had our first visitor about 2 months after we moved into the house. My mother in law (who is fantastic) came for about 4-5 weeks over Christmas. She was great company and always helped with the kids, meals, cleaning, etc. A few months later my mom visited for a month, she was also fantastic and helped with everything. This past Christmas my dad and step-mom came for a month and were perfect guests as well. We’ve been very lucky and have had no problems with visitors; in fact they’d be welcome to stay for longer if they wanted!

comet555

Travelling in Australia

Knowing that we might only be in Australia for a couple of years has made us conscious of the fact that we need to see as much as we can while we are here. In the two years I’ve been here I’ve been up to Cairns and the reef 3 times and we did the Great Ocean Road drive last December. We visited Sydney and drove the east coast when we first arrived, so I’m not too sure what’s left on our to do list. I really want to see New Zealand so I think we’ll go there for a week next year.

Adjusting to Life in Australia

For the most part adjusting to life in Australia has been very easy. It only took a couple of weeks until we learned to relax while driving on the left hand side of the road and we stopped accidentally hitting the wipers when we wanted to turn. After a few months it all seemed pretty natural and now after 2 years it actually feels weird driving on the right when visiting Canada.

Grocery shopping was probably the biggest adjustment. It takes a while to re-learn what brands you like or don’t like the different names for things and where everything is located. The first time I did a big shopping trip I went around the outside of the store 3 times looking for eggs. Eventually I found them in the baking isle just sitting on the shelf, and not in a refrigerated section like I was used to. I still find that a bit odd but at least I know where to find them!
The language was a bit odd for me at first. Even though I knew we were going to Oz and they would have accents (to me) I still thought it was strange to be so immersed in it. Even watching tv gave us a weird feeling like we were in another world or something! Go figure, that’s culture shock for you though. We were never uncomfortable with it, it was just different and it took a bit of time to adjust even though we completely expected all of it. I guess it’s just more the feeling that you are the once out of place, and that you’re actually the one with an accent (not them). So it took a couple of months to stop feeling like a tourist and start feeling more like we lived here. I can totally see why people would panic and move back to their “home” in the first couple of months because everything just feels so outside of your comfort zone. But in all honest I think everyone should give it at least 3 months, preferably 6 months before even thinking about returning home. By 6 months we had moved into our new house and were getting settled into our day to day routine. I was getting pretty comfortable getting around our area and shopping for whatever we needed.

comet555

Life Now

We are very settled now and we’ve been in our home for about 18 months. My daughter went to kindy last year and is now in Prep fulltime (yay!). I’ve also started doing a bit of relief teacher’s aide work at my daughter’s school. So far I’ve worked about 10 days all together, although I’m hoping I’ll only get about a couple of days a work each month for something to do. The rest of the time when my son is in daycare (2 days a week) I do the errands, get a bit of personal time and volunteer at my daughters school. We’ve never had babysitters other than when we have visitors so getting a break for a change is nice.

My husband has been doing very well at work, and despite the economic downturn he’s managed to get about 4 raises and a promotion since he starting working there 2 years ago. So far his job hasn’t been affected by the recession although you just never know given that he’s in mining.

Will We Stay?

So this is obviously the big question given how we came out here. If I had to answer this right now I think the answer would be no, we wouldn’t stay permanently. We both love Australia and we are very settled but at the moment we would like to be closer to family. We’ve never lived close to either family since we finished University, my family was a 5 hour plane ride and my husband’s was a 9 hour drive. So we actually don’t mind being away from them. We can manage just fine being away and aren’t really homesick or anything, we would just like to experience life with family around for a change.

The other big thing is the weather. I really do enjoy the weather here in Australia for the majority of the year and I do prefer the weather in Oz. My husband on the other hand really misses the snow and the cooler seasons. I do miss the cooler seasons a little bit but not the snow. So both countries have their benefits and drawbacks but my husband does prefer the weather in Canada, which is fair enough.

The other big factor for us (other than family) is the cost of housing. We are doing really well here and I actually have no complaints about the housing, but the fact is that if we were to move to where my parents are we could buy the same house for almost half the price. If we were to do that we could own our house without a mortgage, which is pretty spectacular since we are only 29 and 30 at the moment. So going back would mean we could be close to family and most likely have a house mortgage free (or almost).

I’m still trying to talk my husband to moving to my home town though, but the other places we’re considering have similar housing costs and relatives nearby. The drawback is of course that my husband salary would be about a quarter of what it is here since he wouldn’t be in mining anymore and would have to do something else. But without a mortgage we wouldn’t need to make much and could relax a bit and work in things we enjoy for a change!

So right now we are pretty sure we’ll head back, probably next Christmas (2010). Before we do we will be applying for citizenship (next month) so we can return later on if we like when the kids are older, etc. There’s really no telling what will happen in the future and because we really do love Australia we wouldn’t want to leave without being able to return later on. I know that some people might disagree with taking out citizenship, but I really don’t care. We definitely have strong ties here and I really would love to live here again someday if I had the chance. Who knows though, we’ve still got another 18 months here and we might just change our minds again!

MeinMel

Great Post, thanks for sharing your experiences!!!

asprilla

great post ! really enjoyed it and I'm glad you guys are enjoying life here.


I think there are plenty of folks who would do well to take note of your approach to the move over...

We came out with the opposite approach that most people take. Our thought was we'd come for a 2-4 and see what it was like. If we really loved it and wanted to stay then we would, otherwise we'd head back.




best wishes

comet555

I actually found that approach a lot easier to settle in. Mostly because we knew we were definitely staying for those few years and that we wouldn't be running back if things were difficult. We agreed going in that no matter what we'd be here for a year, as long as he had a job that is.

It took a lot of the pressue off knowing that we could always go back later on if we wanted and that the money we spent was on the experience and adventure rather than a new permanent home.

lyndhurst

fab post, really enjoyed reading in....

Dorothy

Fantastic update, Haley. Reading this reminded me so much of how I felt/feel. The culture shock, the finding the eggs in the baking aisle instead of the fridge, feeling like I'm on another planet.

comet555

I just have to add that I was out grocery shopping at my usually store yesterday and I noticed they had moved some eggs into the refrigerated section! Finally! Just the Coles brand ones but I usually get those anyways.

I was also thinking about how long it too me to get used to using the money here. For the first little bit I just avoided using change altogether as it was too much to handle at first. Once I'd learned the bills and stopped fumbling around then I started using change again. It was very strange to have twenty and fifty cent coins instead of quarters and pennies. The sizes of them too really threw me off at first.

I still think it's really silly for people to give up so quickly and return home. By that I mean returning before your furniture even arrives! You can't possibly know how well you've settled if you still don't know your surroundings enough to get around without a map, haven't worked out where to buy the things you need and gotten into some sort of routine.

Dorothy

You know, even after nearly 3 years I still get the $5 and $10 notes mixed up. They're opposite of what I'm used to! I was at my neighbour's yesterday and were talking about missing pennies. Don't you find that when you go back the loonies and twonies feel cheap? I couldn't get over how light they were when I was there. I do love the little $2 coins here. I always forget I have them in my wallet so before I know it I've got $20 in change.

comet555

I do love the plastic money though! Any money that can go through the wash and come out ok is pretty good in my books!

Family of 3

I've been in Singapore for so long (12 years) that I struggle to work out the coins etc when I go back to the UK. I can feel all these people thinking "She must be really thick".

phat-dave

Hi Comet,

Great to hear about your experiences. My fiance and I found it amusing because your situation sounds very much like ours (no kids though).

We've lived in Brisbane all our lives and we're looking to just up and leave to move to Canada "for something different" lol. Will it be forever? probably not but it'll no doubt be an experience.... only downside is the ridiculously cold and long winters

I hope everything pans out well for you.

Take care

Sally Simpson

Great update Comet!
Really good read!