11 days and going good!

[simon@sarah]

Hi everyone, just thought would let you know how things have been for us from leaving UK to being in Adelaide.

 

Firstly nothing prepared me for the farewells in the UK. We had a leaving party 5 days before flying for friends then went out with family 2 days before and it was awful saying goodbye..I felt like i was ripping my family apart, and then on the day, having to watch Tom 21 and Lewis 18 say goodbye to their girlfriends of 4 and 2 years was the worst feeling as a mother i have had..watching your sons cry is not good and not something I want to go through again! The taxi ride to Heathrow was the quietest journey ever and as much as i wanted to get excited, I couldnt, I just felt rubbish.

The flight was good with Singapore Airlines and we arrived in Adelaide on the 2nd Sept on a glorious sunny morning, of which i was soo grateful as i feel that had it been cold and damp the boys would have just wanted to get on the next flight.

Our friends met us and took us to our rental, which was nice, but not ours, i had always owned in the UK and it felt weird. We unpacked 11 suitcases and slowly struggled to put one foot in front of the other. Anyways we managed to stay awake until 7pm at which point we all fell into bed exhausted, physically and mentally.

2a.m me and Simon were wide awake and to be honest,gutted that we were laying in Adelaide and not Bedford..we wondered what we had done, taking the boys from their girlfriends and leaving our parents and siblings..we both cried..decided we had made a massive mistake and we needed to go home asap so that Marcus who is 16 could continue with his final years of GCSE and we would tell the shipping company to redirect our stuff straight back to the uk. we laid awake all night talking and all the time i was thinking we at least had someone to cuddle, the boys had no one, i felt horrrendous.

Next morning when the boys got up i asked them how they slept and how they felt and they all said fine..the new neighbour called round and after id finished sobbing on her shoulder (think she was a bit shocked) she told me to look on the positive side and remember why we had wanted to come to Australia, as did my friend when she called round, to look at the negatives like knowing no one and not knowing the area or having a job as a challenge and a good thing..which i have and its worked!

We have bought a car, Simon has an interview tomorrow and i have applied for 4 jobs. We have driving licences, bank accounts and mobiles. The boys are still spending tooo much time on fb and skype back to the uk and the youngest has racked up a phone bill of over £100, but they wake up with a smile on their faces and im soooo proud of them.Marcus started school on Monday and is settling in okay.

Dont expect it to be a bed of roses, the goodbyes, the 1st 24 hrs were horrible and not something i want to repeat ever, but so far we are loving it, the weather is getting warmer, though the house is bloody freezing and today we enjoyed a scooner at the local whilst looking at to the beach..unbeatable! Everyone has been so friendly and welcoming, from the conductor on the tram to the young girl at the bank!

If any of you guys have teenagers we have 3 boys looking for a social life, if you know of any clubs etc in the seaview/brighton area any tips will be gratefully accepted.

I do see us here for good, im just hoping that this time next year there will still be five of us! Watch this space.

 

Sarah

[Guest moviemummy]

Hi Sarah

 

If you fancy a chat pm and I'll send you my number. Hang on in there. We expect the first few years to have ups and downs, the great and wise on this place told us so! And they haven't be wrong about much!

 

L x

[Diane]

What an honest and refreshing post. Take it one day at a time and hopefully things will keep getting better and better for you all - you certainly seem to have the right attitudes and to be determined to give it your best shot, and have come out here at the best time of year to make the best of every new experience. Good luck with finding jobs etc, and keep us posted how it's all going.

 

Welcome to Adelaide!

[Guest Nicky&Andy]

ditto know how you are feeling right now , weve been here nearly a year now kids are settled ,we wouldnt live anywhere else , and every day gets better, it does take time

 

my kids do face book but rarely chat to friends in the uk ,

[Guest Roland Glazier]

Hi Guys, left London in 1973, have visited home and family many times and every time after 4 or 5 weeks i can't wait to get back to Adelaide, the summers can get hot but enjoy the beach and outdoor living 9 months a year, have fun, i have, Roland.

[Guest Kat+Rocco]

Aww Sarah lovely post thank you was crying just reading the first bit, you can tell I'm going to be no good when it comes to the goodbyes. I can't imagine how you must of felt for your boys you'd have felt awful (that's the bit that got me blubbing)

but so pleased for you that you have all gone together as family and long may it stay that way x

[Guest THE HAMLYNS BIG ADVENTURE]

Sarah this has really touched me! I was nearly crying too, only had to hold back as I was being sneaky reading it at work. We also have 3 boys although a lot younger than your's (ours are 2, 5 and 6) so at least we don't have the girlfriend issue yet! We are booked to fly 6th October so just over 3 weeks to go, I feel like I'm in limbo, as if I'm watching all this happening to someone else! It sounds like you have a good positive attitude and this will help you stay strong when it gets hard, I'll try and follow your lead when its my turn-am dreading those first couple of days-but also can't wait. Good luck Amber x

[jomark]

If any of you guys have teenagers we have 3 boys looking for a social life, if you know of any clubs etc in the seaview/brighton area any tips will be gratefully accepted.

Sarah

 

http://www.brightonsurfclub.com/ dont know it personally but brighton has a very good surf life saving club and when the season kicks off it might be something your boys would like to get into...they are open for friday night meals so it might be worth popping down for a cheap feed and to find out more info..

Hope that helps

Jo

[Guest wyles family]

Hi sarah, Well done for getting through the hardest part.. we have it all to come and are leaving uk on 25th oct, we have two children ages 12 and 8 and its a funny feeling when you know its finaly happening as its soo stressfull you kind of want to say I DONT WANT TO GO NOW!! but thats just nerves i think as its difficult to think everything will fall into place.

 

Good luck to you and your family, and im sure your boys will love it in adelaide and when the sun comes out soon you will all know it was worth the move!!

 

Where are you renting at the moment? we are hoping to go to brighton.. have to find good schools and a good area. good luck and well done..

 

WAS A LOVELY POST, AND GIVES ALL OF US AT HOME HOPE, AND KNOWLEDGE, THAT WE CAN ALL DO THIS AND IT WILL ALL WORK OUT FINE IN THE END! for most of us anyway!!

[MeJulie]

Hi Sarah,

 

We have spoken before, my older two are very similar ages to yours, we live in Seaford so dont know Brighton too well unfortunately. My two go into town every 3-4 weeks or so to let their hair down, they have met some young people through my husbands' work who they meet there, drop me a message if you like, maybe we can put them in touch with each other?

 

Glad you are feeling better about being here, it does get better every day.

 

Julie x

[trevorpayne]

Hi.

Pretty much the same apart from we have just the one 10 year old girl who seems to have settled fine.

We arrived a few days after you on the 6th of sept.

Hope everything goes well for you all and good luck with the interview.

[Guest hughescl]

Hi Sarah

Take one day at a time I felt the same when we landed but after 10 weeks feeling more settled, we have good and bad days but I would say as time is going by the good days seem more frequent Take Care Claire x

[simon@sarah]

Aww Sarah lovely post thank you was crying just reading the first bit, you can tell I'm going to be no good when it comes to the goodbyes. I can't imagine how you must of felt for your boys you'd have felt awful (that's the bit that got me blubbing)

but so pleased for you that you have all gone together as family and long may it stay that way x

 

Hi it was awful, and even now when i think back to the last day i cry! It has got better though, Marcus is at school, Tom at the gym and Lewis is in the back garden on his laptop, still on fb mind but at least he is outside. Off to buy our 1st Aussie bbq this arvo as the forecast is 30 for the weekend, so things are looking pretty dandy at the mo. Just be prepared to cry loads wen you say goodbye and enjoy all the hugs!x

[simon@sarah]

Sarah this has really touched me! I was nearly crying too, only had to hold back as I was being sneaky reading it at work. We also have 3 boys although a lot younger than your's (ours are 2, 5 and 6) so at least we don't have the girlfriend issue yet! We are booked to fly 6th October so just over 3 weeks to go, I feel like I'm in limbo, as if I'm watching all this happening to someone else! It sounds like you have a good positive attitude and this will help you stay strong when it gets hard, I'll try and follow your lead when its my turn-am dreading those first couple of days-but also can't wait. Good luck Amber x

 

hi, it is the hardest thing i have ever done and if id have had a crystal ball and couldve seen the last 24hrs in the uk and the 1st 24hrs in Adelaide we probably wouldnt have come...that said im sooo glad we didnt have a crystal ball as im sure we are now meant to be here! Enjoy your last few weeks in UK the weather will be lovely wen you get here and your boys are ideal age!x

[simon@sarah]

http://www.brightonsurfclub.com/ dont know it personally but brighton has a very good surf life saving club and when the season kicks off it might be something your boys would like to get into...they are open for friday night meals so it might be worth popping down for a cheap feed and to find out more info..

Hope that helps

Jo

 

Thanks for that Jo, that has cropped up in a couple of conversations we have had with people so will def have to try it out.

[Guest Coleen&Darren]

Great story Sarah and felt exactly the same on way to Heathrow Airport !!!!!!!!

We stayed at a premier inn the night before where everyone came to say goodbye (was awful !!!!!!)

The philpott family arrived here in Adelaide 6th September and are still feeling our feet, our boys are 16, 14,12 and are now looking for schools, they also wake every morning with a smile so all good so far

[kizzy]

Hi

 

Know exactly how you felt, I had to say goodbye to my 22 year old son last June & was devastated. Luckily he's now in Australia with us (since April) and has met a few friends, he often goes to the Seacliffe Hotel on Friday nights and then into Glenelg (not as lively as the UK though). We brought our daughter around the same age as your youngest & she missed the final year of secondary school but she settled so quickly in school and has loads of friends. Still constantly on facebook chatting to either here ozzie friends or UK ones but at least she's happy.

 

Good luck

 

Tracey

[Guest guest569]

Welcome to Adelaide !!! It gets so much easier with the sun out. saying that i didn't leave the uk with teenagers only toddlers.

How is Bedford these days ?? We left in 05.Which part are you from ??

[simon@sarah]

Great story Sarah and felt exactly the same on way to Heathrow Airport !!!!!!!!

We stayed at a premier inn the night before where everyone came to say goodbye (was awful !!!!!!)

The philpott family arrived here in Adelaide 6th September and are still feeling our feet, our boys are 16, 14,12 and are now looking for schools, they also wake every morning with a smile so all good so far

 

 

Hi Coleen&Darren

 

Wow that must of bin hard! Glad your boys are liking it. Where bouts are you? We are 5mins from Brighton, in Seaview Downs.

 

Sarah

[simon@sarah]

Welcome to Adelaide !!! It gets so much easier with the sun out. saying that i didn't leave the uk with teenagers only toddlers.

How is Bedford these days ?? We left in 05.Which part are you from ??

 

Bedford hasnt changed...loads of £1 shops and takeaways! We lived in Kempston..u? Have you not been back at all?