budababes

Well we have survived our first two years and have settled really well here in Charlestown, NSW. I am not going to say that it is all a 'bed of roses' but there are bound to be some differences when one has lived over 60 years in the 'homeland' and then upped sticks to move across the world.
I have to say that it has been worth all the upheaval to be here with our son and his wife and our gorgeous grandson. They are expecting another addition to the family in May and that is really the 'icing on the cake' for us as we were told not to expect to be grandparents as they were going to have dogs!!!! Well...... never, say never eh?
Having moved from Essex, where we were both born and bred, my husband and I moved to Devon for our retirement. We think that move prepared us for this big move to Oz. It was a rehearsal in making new friends and getting involved in the local community to help us to settle. It has really worked for us. Very soon after we arrived in Oz, we became involved in voluntary work at a local Reserve where we have made some good friends and we have both become keen bowlers which has again helped us to integrate in the local community.

Also thanks to this forum we have made really good friends with some other parents who have also joined their families in NSW, not to mention some really lovely young families who arrived here around the same time as us.

The hardest part for me as a mum, has been leaving our daughter in the U.K. (her choice - for the time being anyway) and of course leaving so many life-long friends and family too. Thank God for modern technology!!! It really is a saviour for keeping us all in touch.

This is a beautiful country with so much to offer but we have to remember that it is still a very young country and be prepared for some minor irritations. These we can live with for the privilege of living here.

We will be off to the U.K. in May - our first trip back since coming here. It will be interesting to see how we are affected by the trip????

To any other parents who have taken the plunge to join their family - hope you have settled as well as we have and are enjoying this lovely experience.

Here's to the next ??????? years of being a Resident of Australia

Linda and Keith

p.s. If there are any other cpv parents out there who would like to meet-up, it might be fun to compare our experiences thus far!

Wendy66

Wow, very inspiring........... I thought we were brave at 40 years old and settled with good life to upsticks. Enjoyed reading your update and unlike my parents did you seem to live life to the full - good luck and enjoy every minute

x

glittababe

So brave and I'm so glad you've settled. Just a few q's re the migration process, did you havbe to have 50% of your family over here? Whats the difference between teh pv and the cpv? Many thanks love annie