Adelaide?? I'd rather be in Peckham!

**bennywood** · 25-08-2011, 06:35 AM

Well I came to South Australia just over a year ago with the promise of a good well paid job, nice lifestyle, great weather etc...this turned out to be untrue! I came to Adelaide to escape the UK, the bad weather, the poisonous and disgusting way society has turned for the worse and the low wages for skilled workers. I am a fully qualified electrician and so plenty of work in Oz. The money I was offered in Adelaide seemed very good and after quickly looking online I found that rental prices etc were cheap too.
All good so I thought.
So 1st week of work arrived and pretty soon I figured out that the boss was a complete ****, Then came payday and it turned out that due to my visa I had to pay emergency tax or something of that sort so I was pocketing a whole $500 per week to live on, 500 per week is not bad for the uk where my rent was 120 quid a week but now I was getting paid less than I had been over 13 years ago and the place I decided to rent was nearly 400 per week (the agency said I'd be taking over $1200 per week home) also EVERYTHING is a lot more expensive in Australia. So I had to move into a shared house, which was fun and it meant I got to meet some new people but living with students was hard whilst working full time. So I decided to look for a new job, work to me is always about having fun with the lads, but the guys I was working with were so worn down by the bosses constantly stupid demands that their souls seemed to be missing....apart from 1 guy who (wasn't australian). I found plenty of work quickly, a lot of employers seemed willing to take me on ASAP for a lot more money. Great I thought. So I went to hand my notice in, and my boss landed the bombshell saying that if I left I would have to pay him $6000 for the visa! I spoke to the agent who got me the job here and he said the same thing, I would have to work a year before I could leave.
OK so now I was stuck in a low paid job for a year, miles away from family and friends, in a house full of kids but things couldnt get any worse right? I was still in Adelaide and the weather was great........Thats when winter kicked in, apparently the worst winter in a long time although I dont believe this as the winter at the moment seems colder!
So I started to hit the town, try to meet some people make some new friends and have a good time. I'd heard that Adelaide was a bit of a party town but what I found was a ghost town full of wannabe bikee's and un attractive young blonde women who have their heads so far up their own arses they can see the backs of their own teeth! Beer prices were stupidly over priced and the pubs were all stainless steel polished mirrored places with arrogant bar staff, the clubs were pretty much empty.
So I fell into a bit of depression, this has never happend to me but it felt like I was stuck in a faraway place surrounded by tossers. Then things got worse, I was driving to work one morning and a car side swiped me trapping me in my car (something I would have paid about 150 quid for but cost me over $700). I was pulled out by the rescue crew and taken to hospital where they found nothing wrong with me apart from bruising of the legs (what is sad is that after the accident I sat in the car hoping one of my legs was broken, at least that way my boss would have to let me go home). When I got back to my share house I received a real s****y call from my boss asking why I hadn't turned up for work, when I told him... all he said was that I need to present a doctors note. So I went to the doctors and he signed me off for a week.....a week of my boss ringing me up everyday asking if I'd be back in to work the next day. I also got a $856 bill from the ambulance company, and as for any compensation etc because I wasn't injured badly I got a nice pay out of sweet FA. When I tried to contact the Idiot driver he simply didn't answer my calls or texts.
Now hobbling with no car I had to bus to work, borrowing a works van was out of the question, this ended up costing me a lot and over the next two months I saved up for another rust bucket. When I'd earn’t enough I found another car and started to travel away from Adelaide at the weekends. I must say that in the country towns surrounding Adelaide I met some genuinely nice people and started to feel a bit happier, the summer was not much better that the UK weather wise but the temperature was a lot better.
Things were looking better but I still had that problem of work hanging over me every monday, when I was driving back to the city most sunday evenings I'd suddenly feel down about being home.
Then all of a sudden the year was up! you couldn’t see me leave Adelaide for smoke! I went to Perth to see some friends and loved it, I also went over to Brisbane and had a great time and loved the scenery. So I decided to apply for a few jobs in Queensland....surely things were getting better?
NOPE

Turns out the agency had sorted me out a work visa, but nothing in the way of a PR or temp work visa. They had splashed out on a backpakers visa meaning I could work but only for a year, and on that visa I could only work for 1 company for the maximum of six months meaning I had broken the law by working for my boss for a year and was now in the country illegally!
That was the final nail in the coffin, I flew out of Australia on the 1st of August and now stuck in Thailand waiting for my tax refund to come through so I can get back to the UK
What do I have to say about my experience? Australia is a great place but do your research 1st, I didn't and I paid the price big time. I will be back sometime soon but like most people I will be giving Adelaide a miss this time. Adelaide is good if you like cold winters, low paid jobs, bogans, crap pubs, poorly constructed houses, old people and expensive cars in poor condition

**m.jephcott** · 25-08-2011, 06:49 AM

What a terrible shame, you had such a bad expereince. It is definetely difficult moving to a new country and as we are finding out much more expensive. I cannot believe how much it is to renew the rego on the car, and insurance is so expensive, not to mention everything else that we already found out about. I hope you have better luck in the future where ever that takes you. I am not sure I would rather be in Peckham though, is that where you come from? my sister lives there.

**lynsteve** · 25-08-2011, 06:59 AM

Two words come out of the original post...DO RESEARCH....and none of it was there fault, also the first sentence said it all..............if it sounds too good to be true... amazing..

stevo

**Diane** · 25-08-2011, 07:25 AM

Interesting first post! As said above, a little research would have avoided so many of the issues. Even just joining this site before today might have helped, as you'd have read how important it was to get Ambulance cover, and you might have asked a few more questions about your visa, not to mention applied for a TFN right at the start which would have avoided the Emergency Tax issue.

Ah well... good luck in the future! Hope letting off some steam in your post has helped you!

**tina&steve** · 25-08-2011, 07:31 AM

Do research and get insurance!!!!
Peckham is a **** hole!

**wizzywozza** · 25-08-2011, 07:58 AM

If you overstayed your visa ......... I doubt you'll be back in Oz anytime soon! There's something about this story that doesn't quite gel ...... a WHV for $6000??? Mmmmm

**wizzywozza** · 25-08-2011, 08:01 AM

If you overstayed your visa ......... I doubt you'll be back in Oz anytime soon! There's something about this story that doesn't quite gel ...... a WHV for $6000??? Mmmmm. Not to mention a sparks on a WHV working without having to through the licensing hassles others do?

**snifter** · 25-08-2011, 08:14 AM

As others have pointed out, you really needed to do your research first. You went over there on a WHV and didn't even know what kind of visa you had applied for? And the job thing does sound weird as you'd need to be licensed to work in Aus in that trade.

Sorry things were crappy for you, but really, it does sound like you only have yourself to blame on that one.