Recci and Questions

[Guest duncans]

Hi everyone,

 

We came back from our week long recci in Adelaide last week. I just wanted to share what we found, what emotions we went through and get some feedback if possible.

 

We landed on Tuesday 18th and found a nice bright winters day. We then spent 6 days doing all sorts of typical recci things:

 

• Looking around all sorts of different suburbs (north, south, hills, coast etc)
  
• Meeting Recruitment Consultants
  
• Looking round the city
  
• Looking at shopping versus UK etc
  

I would like to be honest and see if our feelings are normal as I have read many over the top 100% optimistic reports in the past.

 

For us the recci was a real eye opener and emotional roller coaster. One minute we were thinking it was the best thing in the world and the next thinking that the grass was a lot less green than we thought.

 

It started positive, we thought the city ctr was very nice, shopping on Rundle mall was good and a lot better than many reports on here which were negative about shopping quality, the green areas were lovely and the general atmosphere was great. We spent an afternoon in Glenelg which was also great (eating in the Strand was brill).

 

Day two was a low, we found the areas around Norlunga, Raynella (where we had been thinking of living) and other near buy areas pretty rough in places (sorry do not want to offend anyone just our taste was not met hear). We then got a shock at how close the new build houses were together. Also we clearly found out electricals (TV's, Dishwashers, Washing Machines etc) are a chunk more expensive.

 

I don't want to go into too much detail as it would take too long, but needless to say each day we went through an emotional chain of "yes this is defo for us and the qaulity of life will be great through too, this is a tad dissappointing". It was an up and down emotional journey.

 

We are now at a point where we are ready to make a decision. We ended up very happy with the areas around Seaford (rise, meadows) and Maclaren Vale. We also found houses that would be suitable and schools that sounded good. We are now far more "eyes wide open" in terms of the upsides and downisdes. We think we will proceed but just wanted to know if others went through a similar rollercoaster?

 

P.S. We met some friends on day three which was great other than a story that has haunted my wife every since. The wife of our frinds found a brown snake in her lounge about 3 months earlier and the husband got bit by a red back in the same week. That didn't go down well.

 

Thanks

[Guest nurse sue]

hiya,

we went for a 2 week recce trip to adelaide (then up to gold coast/brisbane/sunshine coast for 2 weeks) about 2 years ago now. we were very much the same ... places we did like then places we didnt. we took the trip as a holiday, with a quick peek around places, so perhaps our thinking wasnt quite the same, but we came back very much wanting to move over there.

when we do move, we will also be going with the thought that it doesnt have to be forever; im always telling my oh that adelaide has its down sides too, and that if he cant get work it will be crap. he has a large family in adelaide, and has worked hard all his life, so he is seeing the move as at worse, a long holiday, at best a long term move.

at least you will be going over there with a decent insight into life in adelaide.

sue

[Guest Guest75]

No problem with being honest - it's what YOU want and need that counts.

 

The reality here can be different to what is perceived from the UK.

 

I'll not defend nor dismiss the areas mentioned but can I ask - when you say "rough" do you mean tatty or rough people??

 

I live up the hill from there in Onkaparinga Hills - suits some but not others.

 

Aussies do take some getting to used to at times, they o look and behave differently.I go for a drink in one of the roughest pubs locally - but they are a great bunch once you et to know them.

 

It's perfectly normal to change your ideas once you get here.

 

At least you have found areas that YOU like.

 

You will always get a scare story when new ere - we had most poisonous beasties in the house or have a go at me - I'm still here.

 

It's a good post with reality built in.

 

As Sue and you say - you are coming in with eyes wide open

 

PS - play nicely boys and girls.

[Guest nickyblue]

Hi there

I think what you are going through is normal! I didn't do a reccie before moving and so everything you are thinking and feeling I went through in my first few weeks here - it was really tough because I had read so many great things about moving over and when I got here (on a not so beautiful day!) and drove around reality hit me! I think it's great that there are lots of positive posts on here, but i think your post is a reality for many people. I don't think any place can ever be 100% perfect from the start - it's what you make of it that makes it perfect. I think with anywhere you take the good and great bits, of which I believe Adelaide has a lot, and leave the bits that are less you! In the end the good must have outweighed the bad if you are still considering moving over and atleast when you get here you can hit the ground running with a clear view of your own families likes and dislikes.

 

Good luck with it all!

nic

x

[minty]

For us the recce was a must, we just could not up roots and go blind with 2 small kids. Landed in melbourne and although it was ok we new after 2 days we would not be willing to move to the other side of the world for Melbourne. Drove down to Adelaide with a sunken feeling but as soon as we got there the spirits lifted as it just felt right. Spent the next 2 and a bit weeks driving around viewing houses and getting a feel for the place and although there was no where we disliked we fell in love with Aldinga beech. People emigrate without the recce and it works so good on them but for us it was a must and money well spent.

[Diane]

Don't worry - you are perfectly normal, in fact probably far more sensible than a lot of people for having doubts and recognising and confronting them!

 

I well remember when we first arrived, having never been to Adelaide before, seeing all the billboards on the main roads, the huge unsubtle "Want Longer Lasting..." signs, the houses where it seemed you could shake your neighbours hand through the window, the houses seemed so close together... and thinking "What on Earth Have we Done?!!"

 

Sounds like you managed to fit a lot of useful stuff into your short stay, and manage not to look on it as a holiday but to really think about what living here would be like.

 

It's NOT for everyone, and only you can decide if the plusses outweigh the minusses for your family, but trust me, you do get used to it, find places that tick the majority of your boxes, and start to appreciate the differences after a while - although I still think the american influence is a little strong in places!!

 

Diane

[Guest guest3462]

Hi there, I just wanted to say that your post was great.

We love it here in Adelaide and live south in Aldinga Beach (where there are some as the locals like to put it "ferral people" !!!!) when we first arrived 8 months ago, I came with wide open eyes and a vision of living in summer bay. We had done a "reccie" 9 months before we arrived, but not really, the truth was that we came to visit friends for 4 days, fell in love with their life, found a block of land near their new house bought it, Rich got a job offer then went back home!!!! CRAZY!!!! We then endured an agonising 9 months in the UK of bloody hell we are moving to Oz, we had no visa, no money saved up, house to sell, the list goes on..... You gan guess what our parents had to say.......

Anyway, what i'm trying to say is that when we got here we had a massive culture shock when that holiday feeling had worn off. Everything is different, the people, the shops, the lifestyle. But we have adjusted ourselves and we love it and would find it really hard to go back to the UK now.

You know, you still have to go to work, come home, make the tea, get the kids in bed and pour a glass of wine 5 days a week and then enjoy the weekend just like you do now, so really it's not that dissimilar to home routine, but the friends we have made here are now our family and we love each and every one of them dearly.

The choices you make are for you and for what is best for your family, you can only live where you feel comfortable living and your rollercoaster ride is only just beginning.......

Julia xxx

[jim and adel]

Day two was a low, we found the areas around Norlunga, Raynella (where we had been thinking of living) and other near buy areas pretty rough in places (sorry do not want to offend anyone just our taste was not met hear). We then got a shock at how close the new build houses were together. Also we clearly found out electricals (TV's, Dishwashers, Washing Machines etc) are a chunk more expensive.

 

 

Obviously people have different experiences (I say 'obviously' yet it seems to come as a shock to some when this proves to be the case ...) but I can relate to this view. When we were in the UK, we thought some areas would be ideal based on feedback from users of various sites and what Google had to tell us. When we came here on our recce, most of those places just didn't live up to the picture we'd painted. This, of course, says more about our expectations than the shortcomings of the places themselves.

 

For example, to us, Port Noarlunga sounded just ideal, and the only puzzle for me was why everybody didn't live there ... Then when we visited it for the first time, I thought it was awful; scruffy and a real run down feel to the place (with people to match), and there was no way I could imagine moving from one side of the world and choosing there as the destination. Since making the move from the UK, we've visited PN quite a few times and now it's just like any other place; some good to it, some bad. Would I choose to live there? Probably not; because it just doesn't do it for me and I still think it looks fairly rough, but it no longer seems anything like as bad as my first visit suggested.

 

The beauty of Adelaide and its surroundings, though, is that there's plenty of different styles to suit different tastes, so don't be shy of striking a place off the list and trying the next one (equally, don't be too proud to revisit a suburb for a second look!)

 

Regarding the block sizes, I remember writing something similar on our return from the recce, but bigger blocks are around if you're willing to move that bit further out, are lucky to chance upon one, or have more money to spend!

 

Good luck, Jim

[Guest duncans]

Thanks to everyone for thier comments. They really are helpful. I very much appreciate the support and others sharing their views. We definitely are still planning to dive in next year when the visa comes through and I am sure we will have many rollercoaster emotions between now and then.

 

As I said I did not mean to offend anyone talking about Norlunga and Raynella as rough, but as you asked Tyke.... The area seemed pretty industrial/commercial, many houses looked quite run down and the shopping centre certainly had a fair few ferrals (quality phrase Julia). I found Seaford and Aldinga to be a lot cleaner and houses better kept and having Maclaren vale so close was lovely. But that is just first impressions and our preference. Even managed to find some 650 - 750 sqmtr plots which helped.

 

We have been back over a week now and one thing is clear you start looking around your current location more and seeing things you had not seen before. The UK in general seems dirtier, has as many run down areas as we found in Adelaide, crime is rife everywhere (two more murders in London this week) and the summer still hasn't arrived.

 

Thanks again to you all and I will let you know as things progress.

[jomark]

:dull:

[Guest redfoxy]

Hi all,

 

SOme interesting potsts on here. I wold just like to add my 2 pennies worth !!

 

We came without a reccie ! lilke may others and in a week or so are coming up to our first year anniverysary.

 

In that time we have compromised..we would have loved to live in Glenelg or brighton BUT we cant afford it. However, we have now bought our own house in Aldinga Beach and it is on a big block 650 sq m, as it is a new house the garden is huge needs a lot of work as did the house need lots of money ! with hind sight a house already lived in is easier and cheaper.

Aldinga Beach is lovely in the summer and we have that to look forward to now. I prefer to say "country people" and not feral ! One of the reasons I moved away from the UK was the pretentious very materialistic people. The country ozzies are "take me as your find me" and I lilke that.

Yes there are a few tatty areas in reynella, christies beach etc but beleive me it is much better than Moss side which was part of my patch for my work in the UK, although I did live in a Lancashire village, miles away and a long dark miserable drive to work along the M6 & M62 where I always thought I would die, ealry one morning in the ice wet snow and darkness ! Now I drive to and from work in the day light all year round.

Also, I absolutley delight in the Roselles and parrotts in the trees near where I work in Blackwood, which is only half an hour from Aldinga, driving in the morning sun mosrlty ! and home watching the sunset in winter. I delight in the flying Pelicans arounf the Onkaparinga river and the Koalas int the trees in the hills and the roos out in the coutry side when we drive out most weekends.

One bug bear I have is that some things like disconnect and re connect of services to the home seem to cost so much, internet costs so much and there are too many old cars that would never pass an MOT on the road. I also hate the hoons ! If you are looking to rent or buy a house look out for the tyre marks on the road ! and try to avoid living there.

No it is NOT utopia and YES I think it is a better and healthier life style. I do think money makes youe life easier no matter where you live and coming here do cost a bit and takes a while to replace. If you have children, it has to be a better life and future for them..

Good luck all and hey have a great day !

Lyn

[Guest Lisajonesey]

Hi Guys!

What you went through is perfectly normal!

We didn’t do a reccie though – we just turned up with our suitcases, on the same visa you guys are applying for.

We were shocked at how flat it was, and some of the areas are quite run down... HOWEVER a lot of them are beautiful.

We decided to move to Glenelg, and haven’t looked back. We’re really proud of where we live. I’m commuting for longer than I was in the UK though – it takes an hour, door to door to get to work, but I’m getting paid a lot more too, so that’s always a plus.

We found it really frustrating that the airport is in the middle of Adelaide, so a few of the suburbs have to deal with really loud planes. We were in On arrival accommodation when we first arrived, and the noise was SOOO loud, we knew right away we didn’t want to be near it.

We also thought that the prices of cars were more expensive too... and having a beer seems to be the same as what it was for us in London too.. so we’re always on the lookout for cheep beer in restaurants!

Tooheys or Carlton seems to be the cheapest – around $6 for a “pint” - Adelaide’s version of a pint is smaller than those in the UK though.

All in all – we’re glad we moved. I just wanted to say how valid your points are though. There are some beautiful places in South Australia – and once you get here and get settled, you’ll love it!

Lisa

[Guest graandjac]

We felt the same on our reccie , we came back with the conclusion "its not what we thought but we liked it", On the snake and spider thing..........how many people have even seen a snake .....?, and just how many people have been bitten by a red back, these things should not really put you off a dream move to the other side of the world , as in the big picture there a mere speck. good luck with your decision.

[Guest Jo&Phil]

Moving is a big decision so the 'rollercoaster' you speak of is very, very normal.

 

It can be very difficult to get a real feel for a place until you've lived there for a while, so while you reccie is a admirable, you might find that longer knowledge of an area shows you sides of it (good and bad) you didn't first find.

 

If you decide Adelaide is for you could you consider renting somewhere central first with a few to exploring all sorts of areas (and all sorts of job opportunities) before settling anywhere. And you might move .... I expect many of us have moved from the first suburb we lived in on arrival in Oz.

Many new estates are similar in size of blocks to the UK ... if you want more space you can find it but there may be a price premium ............ do you want to replicate what you have in the UK, or better it?

 

Don't panic about snakes and spiders ...... everyone will tell you that these are quite rare (I still haven't seen one of either after 6 years and Aussie husband can't remember the last time he saw either other than in the zoo!).

 

Good luck with your decision making

[Guest duncans]

Thanks to everyone who has left messages since my last post. There are some great comforting comments and some helpful tips from the likes of Lisajonsey and Jo&Phil in particular. Again what is clear is that there are upsides and downsides, for example personally I found most of the beer rubbish but hey so close to Maclaren vale wine it is. The upsides for us defo outweigh the downsides and I definitely feel we are coming out well informed and have found some nice areas.

 

Great comments and support guys.

 

Jomark - Tried not to offend hence the great responses from most and the fact I did not openly share my reasons for not liking PN until specifically asked so sorry - but hey go and grab a beer and get over it:huh:

[Guest charlotte rees]

Hi everyone,

 

We came back from our week long recci in Adelaide last week. I just wanted to share what we found, what emotions we went through and get some feedback if possible.

 

We landed on Tuesday 18th and found a nice bright winters day. We then spent 6 days doing all sorts of typical recci things:

 

• Looking around all sorts of different suburbs (north, south, hills, coast etc)
  
• Meeting Recruitment Consultants
  
• Looking round the city
  
• Looking at shopping versus UK etc
  

I would like to be honest and see if our feelings are normal as I have read many over the top 100% optimistic reports in the past.

 

For us the recci was a real eye opener and emotional roller coaster. One minute we were thinking it was the best thing in the world and the next thinking that the grass was a lot less green than we thought.

 

It started positive, we thought the city ctr was very nice, shopping on Rundle mall was good and a lot better than many reports on here which were negative about shopping quality, the green areas were lovely and the general atmosphere was great. We spent an afternoon in Glenelg which was also great (eating in the Strand was brill).

 

Day two was a low, we found the areas around Norlunga, Raynella (where we had been thinking of living) and other near buy areas pretty rough in places (sorry do not want to offend anyone just our taste was not met hear). We then got a shock at how close the new build houses were together. Also we clearly found out electricals (TV's, Dishwashers, Washing Machines etc) are a chunk more expensive.

 

I don't want to go into too much detail as it would take too long, but needless to say each day we went through an emotional chain of "yes this is defo for us and the qaulity of life will be great through too, this is a tad dissappointing". It was an up and down emotional journey.

 

We are now at a point where we are ready to make a decision. We ended up very happy with the areas around Seaford (rise, meadows) and Maclaren Vale. We also found houses that would be suitable and schools that sounded good. We are now far more "eyes wide open" in terms of the upsides and downisdes. We think we will proceed but just wanted to know if others went through a similar rollercoaster?

 

P.S. We met some friends on day three which was great other than a story that has haunted my wife every since. The wife of our frinds found a brown snake in her lounge about 3 months earlier and the husband got bit by a red back in the same week. That didn't go down well.

 

Thanks

 

Hi There

 

Can i just ask if u were to take ur own tv dishwaser etc would they work out there if u changed the plugs. also if u dont mind me asking u say u went to glenelg would u say its a good place to live with kids. we were thinking of going there and have a 14 year old boy and a 8 year old girl

[jomark]

Jomark - Tried not to offend hence the great responses from most and the fact I did not openly share my reasons for not liking PN until specifically asked so sorry - but hey go and grab a beer and get over it:huh:

 

Have PM'd you

 

Jo:wubclub:

[wireworks]

Hi, we can thoroughly agree with the emotional turmoil of the reccie visit. This is the final day of our visa-validation visit, then we are back to the UK for a year before we can move out properly. It is our 3rd visit to Oz, first was 4 years ago, purely as a holiday, but something about the country got to us. 2nd was 2 years ago to see if it still had that pull, that was when we decided to apply for a visa, and this time to validate it.

We have been here for 4 weeks, trying out 3 different areas and trying, as best we could, to live a 'normal' life - staying in self-catering where we could cook or eat out as appropriate. We did the 'wanted down under' pattern of beach, country and city to see which felt the most confortable for us, our needs and our 'normal' lifestyle. The beach didn't do it for us we thought it great for a weekend, in the summer, with friends, or just for an evening if we end up close enough (not all that difficult in Adelaide). We used the opportunity of being there (Aldinga) to explore the Fleurieu Peninsular so switched to 'holiday' mode for a day or two and looked at waterfalls and suchlike. Next we went to the Hills, Aldgate/Stirling area, the one we had thought we might settle in on our 2nd trip. We liked it just as much as on our first 15 minute stop there 2 years ago, and spent the next 2 weeks exploring it fully, ease of getting into the city, facilities in and around plus what the other towns/villages in the area have to offer. We also explored all the eastern suburbs, as much as you can by driving around them and stopping at shopping centres etc. Our final week has been in Norwood to experience close-to-city living - something we haven't done since student days in the 70's. This has been fun, being able to walk into the city, eat out without the drink-driving issues and all that that entails.

We have spent every weekend looking round open houses, a great way to see how the Aussie house differs from the English - we have never lived in a modern house so some of the houses semed very strange. This was great as we have looked at lots on the net, but seeing them in the flesh gave a much better picture.

Emotions over the 4 weeks have been strong. Its the first time we have spent this much time solely in each others company which has had its problems, especially with not a lot of living space to escape from each other in! Lou has had to think hard about what he is going to do when we get here, the networking way of business only works if you know people to network with! I will get involved in crafts and my other hobbies once we are here, but for this trip couldn't.

We missed the simple everyday contact with the familiar, not just friends and family, just that easy nodding aquaintance with all that is around without having to wonder where everthing is. I think on a short visit this is not so apparent, but 4 weeks is a long time, however it has made us more prepared for the full move.

PIA has been good for us as well, we made contact with 2 couples before we came and met up with them, as well as going to the ex-pats monthly meet-up where we met up with a few other people, so when we arrive next year we will know a face or two.

A break though in a way for how this whole move will work for us was finally getting Skype up and running and talking to one of our daughters. Seeing her made the distance shrink and we all felt a lot better for it.

Overall, we feel the move is the right one for us, we are not coming with rose-tinted glasses thinking all will be wonderful, but we do feel we are prepared for it now having had this experience. Next year will bring a whole lot of new experiences.

Cheers, Helen and Lou

[Janine and Richard]

Hi the duncans

 

It took us from Jan 07 till Feb 09 to get our visa's long story... Anyway we did a reccie at Easter for three weeks. We have three children 11,15,18. The kids and my OH loved Adelaide didnt want to come home kept saying let's stay let's stay. However, I was freaked out started to panice o.m.g is it really what I want? Is live so bad back in the UK. I can remember reading other peoples posts saying we have our visa's but then posting is it really what we want to do. I was thinking ARE YOU MAD!!!! You have your visa's just go.

 

Anyway we are in the same situation as you do we stay or do we go and we have our visa's. As someone said to me only Sunday last week it is not set in stone. If you go and it's not for you come back. At least it wont be an IF in your life.

 

Good luck with your visa application this rollercoaster ride does I'm afraid last a long time. Yours and other posts have helped me on many occassions to make me feel that i'm not the only one who is going mad.

 

Regards Janine