Yeehhaa i made it

Dave

You really do need to be more positive.

You left the UK because presumably you wanted an improved lifestyle and after a couple of weeks you are debating about coming back to the country that a few weeks ago you wanted to leave.

If you are lying in bed then you are lonely and every little problem gets multiplied.

Once you recover and start working, you will meet people and lead a more normal existance. Things will be a lot better.

You will soon recover financially and I suspect that you will stay, but do not let going through a rough patch deter you.

If nothing else, you are over there, so have a bloody good time out there for at least a year or two which will do your CV a power of good.

If you come back here for a job, the episode will make your judgement appear suspect.

Therefore recover and stay. The climate is better, it is less crowded and ultimately less stressful, so hang in there.

Good luck

Mick

You have only been in the time zone for about 3 weeks. The body can take a long time to adjust to the time change, reprogramming all the internal systems eg digestion.

In my trips to Oz even on a 3 week trip the sleep patterns and fatigue never really sorted it self out.

Is there any thing you can do about the two days of long commute - eg stay over night to eliminate 6 hours of commuting.

Remember when you are going to eat an elephant you do it bit by bit not in one sitting.

In the past I heard of many migrants to Canada that decided to return to the UK after about 2 yeears only to realise that they preferred the new country to the UK, and so they returned to Canada.

Dear Mick,

Australia is less crowded but 90% of population live in 10% of area.

This means that Sydney is just like any other major urban conurbation.

So it is large in size and very densely populated.

Transport apart from trains is a shambles. And getting worse.

A new road comes on line soon. A toll road.

So in order to make it work the current roads will be downgraded leading to carnage.

A six lane highway that i use currently will become a two lane road.

Can you imagine the potential outcome.

The govt wants new roads . Private industry will build them as toll roads but wants in exchange a monopoly of road infrastructure in that vicinity.


If i were living in rural Aus then the problems here would be irrelevant.

In the paper today the Govt announced the no of deaths caused by air borne polution. Interesting reading.

So thanks for your encouragement and advice. It will be taken on board.

But as i have said time is running out to make that decision.

So should i stay or go now.

Bear in mind i used to live in semi rural suffolk so the traffic problems etc did not happen.

As for CV leaving will not affect it as i am a former NHS health care worker now working in private practice here.

regards David.

PS at least the rain appears to have abated and it has warmed up a bit.

5 days continuous rain. Aus needs the rain but most has gone down the drains into the sea as not enough Catchment areas for water to go into water table. TOO many houses not enough ground.

Still this is not unique to Sydney.

regards David

David,

I am sorry to hear that you are finding the transition from the UK to Australia so challenging. It is a big move to have undertaken and having done the same just over two years ago I can understand some of the challenges. However, I would suggest that this is one of the easier places for us Brits to relocate to.

I do read more into this than just a move from the UK to Sydney. This seems bigger than that in that you are making a second lifestyle change from rural to city and all the different aspects of life that involves - traffic, increased housing costs, and so on.

You need to give the move to Sydney much more time. The past weekend was a bit of a downer with all the rain – it made me feel like I was back home in the UK - but normally I wake up most days to beautiful, crisp blue skies and lovely warm weather. Sydney has so much to offer and it is a great place to live. A lovely fun city, fabulous restaurants, beautiful beaches and some of the best people I have ever come across in my travels around the world.

Traffic is no doubt different to rural UK but in my opinion much better than London and about the same as some trips I used to make in and around Brighton. It is what I would expect for a big city. And if you do not want to drive, the train is so cheap, although maybe not so easy to get from Gordon to Liverpool.

Housing here is at the top end of Australia but cheaper than London. I find rentals on a par with West Sussex as opposed to central London, so I would not call it excessive for a city. I can rent a comparable house here in Sydney for the same price I rent out my rural Sussex UK home. Probably the biggest challenge on renting is the fact that you probably have a few competitors for each rental home. The areas you have been looking in should offer good value, well priced accommodation.

My advice is to look at the positive and look forward to summer which is just around the corner. I can guarantee you that you will have ups and downs on the move for sometime to come, but it will get better as you settle, get to make friends and getting the house sorted is important. There will be many days when you think this move is the best thing you have ever done, but you need to build up some infrastructure around you first.

I have found it a very rewarding experience and after two and a half years, I now wonder whether I will have the same challenge in reverse if we have to return home. I love living here and we are thinking that maybe this is where we want to live for a long time to come as it offers so much for our family. However, even six months ago, after two years here, we had a short lapse and we went through a period of missing home. So we went back for a couple of weeks, got a fix and now the UK is no longer an issue again.

So give it a go, I think you will get to like it and if you went back now, into the UK winter, you may just regret what might have been.

Good luck.

Adrian

Hang on in there David...we are thinking of you ......

.. Michael, Pam, Jules and the crew at no 22!

quote:

Originally posted by DAVOhorn:
If i stay financially i will be even further in the mire.

As will have to underrite the housing problem.

This will reduce my capital and may mean that buying a house will become doubtful here and UK.

If i bail now i can still afford to buy in UK.

The rental market for housing is the primary cause of my ills.

David,

sorry to hear you're having a tough time of it. You can't have expected it to be so tough.

I wonder if you could arrange some sort of house share for the short term. Perhaps there might be an existing house with a vacancy for a single person?

You might also find having people around you, even if not friends to begin with, might help to lift the gloom.

If that stops you having to eat into your capital, it would give you longer to aclimatise, and not force you to make a quick decision.


Hope things get better soon.

All the best, Martin

David,

Persevere, the weather is getting better.

Adrian's (expat in oz) advise is very good. Consider the implicatons of your commuting carefully. Sydney is a big city with a strong car culture. However, you may want to base your self in the suburb which gives you the lowest average commute. If you are in Gordon for 3 days then closer to there may be better and endure the longer commute for two days.

If you have limited internet access go to a local community centre or library and get on line there. You can search for accommodation by suburb, size, type and price.

Hang on in there.

Milan

Dear All,

Well i am still here.

Thursday passed, it was the last chance to decide to go home.

So anyway i have found accommodation and signed the lease today.

So on Monday i am no longer homeless.

It is more than i wanted to pay but i will only have to drive to work 2 days a week not 5 so there will be benefits in kind. Less money in exhaust gasses. And less time in traffic.

So i am here for the duration.

Well 2 years anyway.

So my stuff is going through the customs in the next 3 weeks then it will have a home too!

So it seems that the corner may have been turned.

Now i am a rental slave.

McDonalds Big Macs from now on for me.

So thanks for all your help and advice.

Milan i look forward to meeting up soon.

I am going to be living in Gordon so very close to you.

Thanks .

David

Hi David;

Good news - you sound a lot more positive. Hopefully in your own home, with your own stuff (and music) you'll feel at lot happier.

Send us some pics when your e-mail a/c is up and running. My e-mail address is at the end of my forum profile.

John.

Seconded John...I think you made the right decision David.

Keep us all posted.