11 weeks in my report

[swifty99]

Well i know how i loved reading other peoples report after their first few weeks in oz so i thought i would put mine.

Left a rainy heathrow may 26th and landed in a rainy melbourne 27th may it was around 9pm so pitch black, was met by my sister that i have only met twice, my brother in law only met once and my niece who i had never met before, was great to have friendly faces greet us as as much as you prepare for that flight, with a 3 year old and bugger all sleep i was feel emotional and knackered.

Driving to my sister house i was more that a little freaked out, as it was dark so couldn't see much, the motorway seemed a free for all, and she seemed to live a million miles away.

Took us all a few days to settle into a normal sleep pattern, and the day after we landed we went to a family party were i met yet more of my family that i had never met before.

Think i spent most of the first week in a strange state, had been so excited about moving over and meeting everyone that i didn't prepare for the tiredness and the feeling of being lost and overwhelmed.

Now 11 weeks later i feel totally at home here, have settled in a lovely house in sanctuary lakes, been here for 5 weeks and love it here.

Considering it is winter we have had some amazing warm days getting as warm as 22c last week. Have met some lovely people, a few from this forum who have been amazing great sources of information and great to have made friends, so i thank them all for everything so far. My advice is only you get settled get on here and tell people were you are and ask if anyone around wants to meet up, as it is great to share experiences and pick their brains and things.

It certainly isn't britain in the sun, we all love it here so much however you will realise that britain is a more progressive and more advanced in certain things, you will also realise that the aussies do not rush themselves to do things.

We have been a little unlucky with our house as we have had more that a few problems and our agents response is usually to laugh and try to make light of it, and after chasing and chasing them up you end up giving up and realising that if it gets fixed it will be at their pace not ours!!!!

As for the cost this is just my general observation, chicken is more expensive, beef is cheaper, food is a little more expensive on the whole and you do have to learn to shop around and look for the offers, markets like here in melbourne the queen victoria market are great such a vast choice and great prices, i miss the likes of asda and tesco but i am sure after a few years i will be well over it.

i find make up and deodorant are way more expensive so stock up before you come over, clothes shops for women are well....... crap no choice we are spoilt in england, however most english shops ship to oz anyway so no worries.

People have been very friendly and welcoming and always willing to help.

Aussies telly is poop but i think once the weather gets better i wont be watching it anyway.

i love the positive feel here the general feeling of happiness and not as stressed and down beat as how it was where i lived. found renting a house very easy to get but this is the west and there are alot of properties available, but like i said before you will find yourself chasing up your agents which they find amusing. Driving is different here, bit like dodgems on the road sometimes feels like there are no real rules but you soon adjust.

I have found that food wise there is alot of choice and i could get seriously fat with the yummy ice cream the great crisps (chips) but a former chocolate lover in england have to give it a miss here, but must try the chocolate lounge their hot chocolate is heaven in a cup.....

Have babbled on loads but still feel like i have not covered half of it.

All i can say is after years of talking about doing it, we are so glad we finally did it, it is undoubtedly very hard very emotional and very stressful but it has so far been the best thing we could have done for not only us but our family, so for us so far our choice is AUSTRALIA

:cool::biggrin::jiggy:

[Petals]

Good luck with your new life and glad that we had a couple of warmer days since you arrived. Lovely one today in fact our trees seem to be getting buds which means spring is round the corner.

 

Ezibuy.com.au has some reasonable nice clothes and I have found them good quality.