Hello All - Michele here!

[Guest Michele]

Hi everyone at PIA,

 

Myself (Michele, 41) and my partner Christian (41) have just moved to Adelaide and are looking forward to making some new friends. I'm English and Chris is Dutch and we have been living in Holland for the last 14 years.

 

Like lots of people we had been trying to get to Australia for years. We applied for a 175 permanent visa (occupation IT Manager) back in Feb 2008, but this has been put on hold until 2013 by DIAC as a result of the re-prioritisations due to the credit crisis. We were gutted when we found out as there is a big chance that this visa may never get approved!

 

So back in May last year we made the decision to go to Melbourne for 3 months on a holiday visa with the idea of Chris trying to get a job with a sponsored 457 temporary business visa. It was a long shot but possibly our only chance of getting to Australia. The recruitment agency that we had been in contact with for 2 years set up some interviews and we arrived on 8 October 2009.

 

To cut a long story short we heard on 15 November that everything had fallen through on the job front for one reason or another. We were devastated as we couldn't see that it would be possible to find another company in time to sponsor us.

In despiration Chris sent out his CV to companies all over Australia, and low and behold a company in Adelaide was interested. After rushing over from Melbourne for a interview, plus numerous phone interviews and a number of tests they gave us a thumbs up. We applied for the 457 on 15 December and it was approved at midnight the next day. We couldn't believe it - we were expecting a wait of at least 2 - 4 weeks.

 

We left Melbourne on 7 Jan 2010 and arrived after an overnight stop in Nhill in Adelaide on 8th. After 10 days in temporary accommodation we moved into a townhouse in the south east of the city.

 

Having fallen in love with Melbourne the move was a bit of a shock but we are getting to know our way around and are starting to feel really at home. We saw the Tour Down Under, and had a great Australia Day in the city. So far we've been to Hahndorf, Glenelg, North Adelaide, Norwood, Marion Shopping Centre and the Barossa Valley.

 

Our dreams really have come true and the future looks good.

 

We are looking forward to the next monthly meet-up and getting the chance to meet some of you.

 

Also if there are any women who are free during the day and would like to meet-up do send me a PM or email.

[Scousemouse]

Hi Michelle, welkommen to the forum!

 

What a rollercoaster you guys have had!!!!

 

You will find plenty of people here to help you and your hubby through it all.

 

atb

Jane

[Riponian]

Hi and welcome

 

I too am a fellow Michelle (but with 2 ll's lol)

 

Where abouts are you. There are usually loads of ladies meet ups and we tend organise them on here or facebook.

 

We are down in Sheidow park so don't know if thats any good to you?

 

Hope you settle in and are finding your feet feel free to shout if you need anything.

 

Michelle

[nikkinoodlesuk]

Hya Michele, which suburbs you in, I'm in Northern suburbs, let us know how far you are, there is a night out organised down Glenelg this Sat 27th, there's a few going to that one, maybe a good chance to meet some newbies...xx

[Ferret]

Hoi Michele,

 

Waar hebben jullie eerder gewoond in het nederlands ? Ik heb zelf bijna 13 jaar in Nederland gewoond en gewerkt. Vlakbij Dordrecht/Rotterdam.

 

Groets,

Ian

[Guest Michele]

Hi Michelle, welkommen to the forum!

 

What a rollercoaster you guys have had!!!!

 

You will find plenty of people here to help you and your hubby through it all.

 

atb

Jane

 

Hi Jane, thanks for the welcome!

 

After such a struggle I still can't believe that we are here - we could have given up but we wanted it too badly.

[Guest Michele]

Hi and welcome

 

I too am a fellow Michelle (but with 2 ll's lol)

 

Where abouts are you. There are usually loads of ladies meet ups and we tend organise them on here or facebook.

 

We are down in Sheidow park so don't know if thats any good to you?

 

Hope you settle in and are finding your feet feel free to shout if you need anything.

 

Michelle

 

Hi Michelle, thanks for the welcome too!

 

We are in the CBD near Hutt Street. It is very handy being in the centre but we are hoping to move to the Adelaide Hills at some point.

 

Is there a Facebook group that I can join?

 

We are certainly hoping to make it to the next monthly meet-up so that we can start making friends.

 

We are feeling very settled now, all of the paperwork is done - not having any children and me not working makes things very easy.

 

The only annoyance is that I will have to go back to Holland to put the house up for sale and arrange to ship our stuff over - I'm not looking forward to that. Oh well, got to be done.

[Guest Michele]

Hya Michele, which suburbs you in, I'm in Northern suburbs, let us know how far you are, there is a night out organised down Glenelg this Sat 27th, there's a few going to that one, maybe a good chance to meet some newbies...xx

 

Hi Nikki,

 

We are in the CBD near Hutt Street.

 

The girls lunch in Glenelg looks like a great idea - I'm just checking with Hubby to see if he has any plans for Sat - if not, I'll find out if it's not too late to join.

[Jimjustin]

Hi Michele.

 

Well done for finaly getting what you wanted. Perseverance gets you everywhere. I havewanted to come to Australia for nine years, and finally made it here 2 weeks ago with my wife Amy. Adelaide is very different to other parts of Australia we have been to, but we are really starting to like it here now. We really like the Adelaide Hills too, but its very difficult to find a nice rental! They are few and far between and get snapped up very quickly. Like I said though, perseverance- gets you everywhere!

Jim and Amy

[Guest Michele]

Hoi Michele,

 

Waar hebben jullie eerder gewoond in het nederlands ? Ik heb zelf bijna 13 jaar in Nederland gewoond en gewerkt. Vlakbij Dordrecht/Rotterdam.

 

Groets,

Ian

 

Hoi Ian,

 

We hebben gewoond in Amsterdam, Nieuwegein en Roosendaal. Ik heb vrooger gewerkt bij ABN Amro Bank in Amsterdam.

 

My written Dutch is pretty poor so I'll continue in English. I lived in Holland for the last 13/14 years, the last 9 of which in Roosendaal just 5kms from the Belgium border.

 

After having moved to another country once I have found it very easy to move again - you too?

[Guest Michele]

Hi Michele.

 

Well done for finaly getting what you wanted. Perseverance gets you everywhere. I havewanted to come to Australia for nine years, and finally made it here 2 weeks ago with my wife Amy. Adelaide is very different to other parts of Australia we have been to, but we are really starting to like it here now. We really like the Adelaide Hills too, but its very difficult to find a nice rental! They are few and far between and get snapped up very quickly. Like I said though, perseverance- gets you everywhere!

Jim and Amy

 

Thanks Jim & Amy,

 

Congratulations to you too!

[Ferret]

Small world, we lived in Dordrecht and then near to Bergen op Zoom which was a bit to quiet for us. :-)

 

 

Hoi Ian,

 

We hebben gewoond in Amsterdam, Nieuwegein en Roosendaal. Ik heb vrooger gewerkt bij ABN Amro Bank in Amsterdam.

 

My written Dutch is pretty poor so I'll continue in English. I lived in Holland for the last 13/14 years, the last 9 of which in Roosendaal just 5kms from the Belgium border.

 

After having moved to another country once I have found it very easy to move again - you too?