Wow! Three years have flown by!
 

Hi all

We had been here three years on the 29th December 2013 so I thought it was time for an update. My first post about our new life in Oz is here http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=701295

So what has happened since we last "spoke"?

We rented in Peregian Springs first of whilst I was in the Police Academy. 6 weeks into the academy I found that I was going to be completing my first year in Bribie Island and Caboolture. This was not what we wanted to hear as we wanted for me to stay on the Sunshine Coast. So we moved to Buderim so that I had less travel time. I completed my first year in the Police at those places and when I got confirmed I was told that no one gets the Sunshine Coast first off as a permanent posting and you have to earn it i.e. Work out west for two to three years and then get posted back. I had a chat to the boss indoors and we both agreed that if that had to be the way then that had to be done. You can imagine my surprise when I got a phone call to tell that my permanent posting was …….Maroochydore! I could not believe my luck.

So we went straight out and bought a house in Mountain Creek. Got a 4 bedder with a lap pool for a song. Its a lovely house and we love living there. Work is great. On New years eve I was patrolling Mooloolaba beach on a quad bike. It don't get better than that!

Lisa has been doing really well at work as well and says that she would not have had the same opportunities in the Uk that she does here. She regularly gets seconded to the Sunshine Coast Uni so that she can facilitate students. She acts up on her ward regularly as well. She says the stress of the job here is way lower than it ever was in the UK.

Since we moved out here, Lisa's daughter has had a baby. We visited in March 2013 for the birth and I wondered how Lisa was going to feel as she always said that she was looking forward to having grandchildren. I asked her how she felt after we had been in the UK a week and she said that she lives in Australia now and every thing else has to fit in with that. She has her first solo trip back to the UK in June 2014 to see the baby again and this will be an annual thing.

We have bought a camper and intend on seeing as much of Australia as we can. Last month we drove from Mountain Creek to Carnovan Gorge, then onto Longreach and Winton, then Yeppoon and then back home. A the end of this month we are camping in South west rocks. Theres a lot to see. Even Ozzies "complain" that we have seem more of Australia than they have.

Over the last three years I have had a few moments of "what have I done" and "why am I here".I think I missed friends and family and the UK as a whole. But I have worked through them and have come out the other side. Luckily our marriage is rock solid and Lisa has been a great listener. At the end of the day we have done a big thing and its got to have an effect on you. I am settled now and could not imagine going back.When I went back to the UK for the birth, after a week I was blinking freezing and was missing Australia. Not having our kids here is hard and especially now that we have a grandson but we made the decision to come here and we were determined to make it work.

We have only just started to connect with new friends. We have a mixture of English and Australian friends. Our friends in the UK call and message us less and less the longer we are here which is to be expected. They have their lives to live as well I suppose.

So what next? At the end of this year we can apply for our citizenship. We have made Australia our home and are embracing it. Yes its expensive but we earn more here. Yes it gets hot but we knew that. Yes their driving is atrocious but hey theres only so many tickets I can give out at a time :-). But its also our home now.

Thanks for reading.

Re: Wow! Three years have flown by!
 

Great update and congrats on the grandbaby :)

Sounds like you are certainly making the most of life :thumbsup:

Re: Wow! Three years have flown by!
 

Lovely update!!:goodpost::thumbsup: Hope the path to citizenship is a smooth one.

Re: Wow! Three years have flown by!
 

nice one son!! I would have loved to have done the camper van thing but my misses is a right snotty cow and wouldn;t have it. I'm looking at eurocamp holidays inthe south of france but she doesn't know yet..

Re: Wow! Three years have flown by!
 

Great update :thumbup:

Re: Wow! Three years have flown by!
 

Its a nice,more detailed update. :)

Re: Wow! Three years have flown by!
 

Missed this when you first posted it mr luvpants - what a great update! Really glad you were posted where you wanted to be, and your NYE duties gave me a smile :)

You and your wife had guts to move over here and make it work. Looking forward to officially welcoming you into the Oz family when you become citizens!