I know ive posted this on PIO but this is for those that dont go on there !!

Im sat here thinking what shall I put on here to tell you all , my first thought is "Be Prepared "It is one hell of a Rollercoaster, First few months here were great, i think this was due to being in holiday mode . We were fortunate as OH had a full time job to go to, we spent first 3 weeks together looking round areas and getting medicare etc sorted out and buying a car, getting schools sorted for kids. Then OH started work.
A week Later my youngest was bitten and was in a lot of pain and discomfort, lots of trips to doctors (and money) where we discovered that he had been bitten by a white tail spider (supposedly) we also found out that my son was allergic to penacillin after he had a severe reaction to it. A very hectic and worrying time.
Both of my boys have settled into school over here really well, one much quicker than the other. Both In Private school this wasnt by choice as school here supposedly didnt have a good reputation. , to anyone thinking of sending your children to private school out here, again "Be prepared" it is a big chunk out of your earnings. Dosent seem it a first when you are still comparing to UK prices but when you over here and earning dollars its a large amount. Having said that I wouldnt change a thing.They are doing fantastic out here.
Christmas was a very strange time, I can honestly say I wasnt really that bothered about it and neither were the kids but it went well considering our friends and family were miles apart. January came and we had visitors, we had a ball , every day we were out discovering new places and lots of it was for free !! Then came the downer Big time.......... Visitors went home and things changed.......Thats when the rollercoaster kicked in for real, the only difference was the rollercoaster just kept on going down and down and down. It wasnt just me that was feeling it ,it was my OH too . Dont get me wrong life hadnt been perfect till then we had had our ups and downs emotinally but this was different. The last few months I feel (and OH would agree) have been the hardest that we have ever had to deal with. Its tested us in more ways than one. We both have parents back in the UK that are ill and it cuts you up at times as there is nothing you can do.
We have asked ourselves on several Occasions "What the hell have we done" Then we look at our two boys and see what they have achieved in a year and how happy they are, we had their school reports in last week and they are doing fantastic, we are so proud of them. One of the reasons we came was to give them different experiences on life within a month of arriving here our eldest went away with the school for 4 weeks living in bush conditions with no contact from home other than letter, and he had to face his fears on several occasions and he didnt even know anyone when he went. He now has some friends that will probably be his friends for life .
Life here isnt a dream (not that we ever thought it was) but some people do think that Australia is paved with gold. I can assure you it isnt......We have worked our butts off here trying to make ends meet. I know this post sounds like we not happy here, at times we havnt been but on the whole we love it here .We are going to make some changes in the near future but for now this is our home and we will continue to work our butts off to try and make it work.
I hope I havnt put anyone off coming out here, it is a great place to be and we have had some fantastic times out here with friends that we have made. Im just giving an open honest post of how it has been for us.

Claire. XX

 

As I said on PIO, Thank you for a good honest post, well worth a read for the members who are in the process of moving here.:biggrin:

Thanks for posting on BIB as well, for the members who have not seen it.:laugh:

 

Hi

Great post

Paula

 

I know i too said this on PIO but i am so glad you stuck the tough times out,, too many people seem to give up to easy lately ,migrating is hard for the first year or so and it is stressful and it will test you as a family , ,,, but ,, if you can hang on in there it does get better as time goes by and life really can be great out here.

Coffee - soon - promise,,lol

Cal x

 

Great post Claire. It can be very emotional at times.....even after 7 years!!!

Thanks for sharing.

Love

Rudi
x

 

Good post Claire, good luck