Well it’s been 12 months since I arrived in Australia, so this is my impressions of our first 12 months here.

My wife arrived before me while I waited for my spouse visa, Marge went to Australia first, thinking it would only take a couple of weeks for my visa application. Three months later after gathering evidence I applied for my visa and it was granted within 10 days, 7 days later I was on a flight to Brisbane. Marge had sorted out a car & accommodation and we spent our first six months back together on Bribie Island, A beautiful place with some lovely walks and beaches. After 6 months we had to move and found a place at Godwin Beach right on the esplanade with views across the bay. Over the first 12 months we have had our share of ups and downs, I had taken early retirement from the British Ambulance service after a couple of health scares, and initially we survived on my small pension, we all know what happened to the value of the £ and my small pension got smaller as time went by.

Looking for work was hard, Marge has plenty of experience in Admin but could not find a job, she had a few interviews but even being Australian did not help her secure a position. As a retired Paramedic I had no real qualifications that applied to work outside the health service sector. Eventually Marge managed to get a job in telesales and that helped to pay the bills and I became a house husband. After being here 10 months we applied for work as curators/caretakers of a museum in Goondiwindi and to our utter amazement we were successful and moved to Goondiwindi about 3 weeks ago. We are settling into the job and adjusting to life in a small town 2 hours drive from anywhere else, but we like it here (well so far we do). Goondiwindi is a very friendly place and it does not take long to get known by the locals, for anyone who is thinking of coming to Australia I would like to offer the following advice.

If you can get a job before arriving it will help you a lot.
Learn to shop again, don’t just use the big supermarkets they are a rip off, look for fruit barns and meat markets, you get good food at a fraction of the cost.
Australians are friendly, but don’t expect them to meet you as you move in to your house with tea and biscuits, go round and introduce yourselves you will find they will react positively.
Join local clubs such as RSL, surf clubs and similar, you can go out for a meal at these places quite cheaply and socialise with the locals. This can also help with job searches.
If you cannot get a job keep trying and try not to get despondent, Australians have problems getting employed, do not fall into the trap of saying “oh it’s because I am English”.

My biggest regret is the fact my Children and grandson are in the UK, I wish I could have got them here with me.

I am looking forward to my next 12 months here and the next stage of my Australian life.

Well thats condensed my first year down to a few lines. I could have gone into more detail, buy hey, its boring enough for you to read without me keep going on and on. :biggrin:

 

Excellent post Colin.
Congratulations on your first Aussie Anniversary!!!

Cal x