14 months living in Adelaide

[RachaelOs]

Inspired by a couple of the other posts I thought I’d do an update on our 14 months in Adelaide.

 

Overall we’re happy, have had a great first year and are looking forward to the next year and beyond. But that’s not to say Adelaide is perfect or that we don’t miss things about the UK

 

My husband found work as a Carpenter quickly although was started on a low wage (he has had two pay rises in the year he’s been there) He’s currently doing his business licence so that he then has the option to work for himself/set up a business here. In order to work as a carpenter you just need to do your white card course but to actually run your own business you need to either do a carpentry business licence or a full business licence dependant on what you want to do. This can be frustrating especially as my husband ran his own business in the UK for 10 years and ultimately the reason we got our VISA was because of his skills so to then have to pay out more money to be able to do the work you want to do and sit in a classroom to learn about things you already know (not all but some) can seem long!

 

We decided before coming that if possible I would take the first year out to get us settled, look after our two children etc and then I would look to go back to work. We were able to do this as we are on a 190 VISA so received some family benefits which definitely helped. I started the job searching in about April and then started work in June so overall the job market has been kind to us. I worked for a global company in London, 3 days a week (after having the children) and here I work for one of their competitors, 3 days a week doing pretty much the same job so I guess timing wise I was lucky that this came up when I started looking.

 

We’re not as “well off” as we were in London but like I say my husband had his own business in the UK and I think it’s unlikely we’ll be in the same position financially unless he does the same here. Having said that with me working now we’ll certainly be able to start ticking some things off our to do list.

 

I think dependent on where in England you come from, what your reasons for coming, what sort of lifestyle you enjoy will make everyone’s experience very different. Obviously coming from London makes Adelaide a very different lifestyle for us sometimes which I love sometimes I don’t!

 

I miss black taxis/cabs and easiness of going out. My parents did 99% of our babysitting back home so my husband and me actually haven’t had a night out together without the children since we’ve moved here. We have started looking in to the possibility of a couple of the girls from the children’s childcare maybe starting to do some babysitting for us so that we maybe can have a least one date night this year! I miss things like next day delivery, shops/restaurants being open all the time. I miss takeaway currys, good chain restaurants like Pizza Express, Strada etc, M&S foodhall (can you tell I love food yet!)

 

I miss double glazing and central heating that you can put on a timer! The houses are cold in winter – I’m not sure we can cope with another winter in the current rental we’re in. Heating is expensive and a waste of time/money because the minute you turn it off all the hot air escapes through the windows/walls. A lot of people seem to rely on wood burning fires to get them through winter but it is horrible not having a warm house to come back to in the evenings/wake up to in the morning. Summer, Spring and Autumn are fine but I think 3 months is a long time to be cold in your home no matter what anyone else says.

 

I think the lifestyle to bring up young children is great – our children are young, love the beaches, the parks, bike riding, the nature, the outdoorsiness of it all. I’m not sure what teenagers would get up to if they were not in to sport but I don’t really know anyone with teenage children so maybe their fine! We’ve loved exploring Adelaide and still have lots to go out and explore.

 

We’ve been really lucky that we’ve met some great people and have had a lot of fun times at their houses, at ours, up at the wineries etc We do of course miss family and friends and seeing pictures of them doing things without you always stings a bit but I’ve been really lucky that my parents have already been out twice and I met my sister and her family in Thailand at Easter. My parents and my brother and nieces are already booked to come for Christmas and New Year so I appreciate that I’m a lot luckier than others. We’re also planning on going to the UK for a holiday next year as two of our friends are getting married and we always said it would be good to check in after two years so that we can get a good comparison and then make longer term plans.

 

We’ve always looked at this as a bit of an adventure, an experience and some days I see us spending our future here and other days I don’t but ultimately that’s because suddenly you have this choice – you can just jump on a plane and go back and I expect anyone who has that option on a bad day will think about it!

 

We still have a lot more we want to do here, we’ve booked our first camping trip although still don’t have a tent! My husband wants to get a surfboard this spring/summer, we keep talking about buying bikes, we want to go to Kangaroo Island, Sydney, Queensland etc. I want to start checking out some of the bars & restaurants in the City. There’s still lot of wineries I haven’t sampled yet!

 

Like I say all in all we’re good and we’ve had a good first year and I certainly don’t regret making the move – is it perfect? No. Is it living the dream? No - but I’m pretty sure no one making the move thinks it will be.

xxx

[Rabeah]

What a lovely post, well balanced, absolutely realistic and you reflected very well on the lack of insulation of houses/units here in winter time.

 

I'd often said the same to my husband that 'I won't survive another winter in that unit'! So we found a reason to buy our own first property with insulation and at least double glazing.

 

Enjoyed reading that you're hubby and you did so well jobwise and kids are happy as well. Good on you!

[Tamara (Homes Down Under)]

What a great post!

Thank you for taking the time to write this and for the totally balanced take on how your life and experiences are here.

This has been a real cold winter and it's not over yet! I agree with so much of your comments and felt / feel the same way about so many aspects that you have mentioned.

I hope that your life here continues to be satisfying and all the best for the future....time goes so quickly....get the tent, go exploring, take advantage of everything the place has to offer!

[samandcraig]

Inspired by a couple of the other posts I thought I’d do an update on our 14 months in Adelaide.

 

Overall we’re happy, have had a great first year and are looking forward to the next year and beyond. But that’s not to say Adelaide is perfect or that we don’t miss things about the UK

 

My husband found work as a Carpenter quickly although was started on a low wage (he has had two pay rises in the year he’s been there) He’s currently doing his business licence so that he then has the option to work for himself/set up a business here. In order to work as a carpenter you just need to do your white card course but to actually run your own business you need to either do a carpentry business licence or a full business licence dependant on what you want to do. This can be frustrating especially as my husband ran his own business in the UK for 10 years and ultimately the reason we got our VISA was because of his skills so to then have to pay out more money to be able to do the work you want to do and sit in a classroom to learn about things you already know (not all but some) can seem long!

 

We decided before coming that if possible I would take the first year out to get us settled, look after our two children etc and then I would look to go back to work. We were able to do this as we are on a 190 VISA so received some family benefits which definitely helped. I started the job searching in about April and then started work in June so overall the job market has been kind to us. I worked for a global company in London, 3 days a week (after having the children) and here I work for one of their competitors, 3 days a week doing pretty much the same job so I guess timing wise I was lucky that this came up when I started looking.

 

We’re not as “well off” as we were in London but like I say my husband had his own business in the UK and I think it’s unlikely we’ll be in the same position financially unless he does the same here. Having said that with me working now we’ll certainly be able to start ticking some things off our to do list.

 

I think dependent on where in England you come from, what your reasons for coming, what sort of lifestyle you enjoy will make everyone’s experience very different. Obviously coming from London makes Adelaide a very different lifestyle for us sometimes which I love sometimes I don’t!

 

I miss black taxis/cabs and easiness of going out. My parents did 99% of our babysitting back home so my husband and me actually haven’t had a night out together without the children since we’ve moved here. We have started looking in to the possibility of a couple of the girls from the children’s childcare maybe starting to do some babysitting for us so that we maybe can have a least one date night this year! I miss things like next day delivery, shops/restaurants being open all the time. I miss takeaway currys, good chain restaurants like Pizza Express, Strada etc, M&S foodhall (can you tell I love food yet!)

 

I miss double glazing and central heating that you can put on a timer! The houses are cold in winter – I’m not sure we can cope with another winter in the current rental we’re in. Heating is expensive and a waste of time/money because the minute you turn it off all the hot air escapes through the windows/walls. A lot of people seem to rely on wood burning fires to get them through winter but it is horrible not having a warm house to come back to in the evenings/wake up to in the morning. Summer, Spring and Autumn are fine but I think 3 months is a long time to be cold in your home no matter what anyone else says.

 

I think the lifestyle to bring up young children is great – our children are young, love the beaches, the parks, bike riding, the nature, the outdoorsiness of it all. I’m not sure what teenagers would get up to if they were not in to sport but I don’t really know anyone with teenage children so maybe their fine! We’ve loved exploring Adelaide and still have lots to go out and explore.

 

We’ve been really lucky that we’ve met some great people and have had a lot of fun times at their houses, at ours, up at the wineries etc We do of course miss family and friends and seeing pictures of them doing things without you always stings a bit but I’ve been really lucky that my parents have already been out twice and I met my sister and her family in Thailand at Easter. My parents and my brother and nieces are already booked to come for Christmas and New Year so I appreciate that I’m a lot luckier than others. We’re also planning on going to the UK for a holiday next year as two of our friends are getting married and we always said it would be good to check in after two years so that we can get a good comparison and then make longer term plans.

 

We’ve always looked at this as a bit of an adventure, an experience and some days I see us spending our future here and other days I don’t but ultimately that’s because suddenly you have this choice – you can just jump on a plane and go back and I expect anyone who has that option on a bad day will think about it!

 

We still have a lot more we want to do here, we’ve booked our first camping trip although still don’t have a tent! My husband wants to get a surfboard this spring/summer, we keep talking about buying bikes, we want to go to Kangaroo Island, Sydney, Queensland etc. I want to start checking out some of the bars & restaurants in the City. There’s still lot of wineries I haven’t sampled yet!

 

Like I say all in all we’re good and we’ve had a good first year and I certainly don’t regret making the move – is it perfect? No. Is it living the dream? No - but I’m pretty sure no one making the move thinks it will be.

xxx

 

Brill post... Xxx

[barbaitch]

What a great post - perfectly balanced and fair. You deserve to do well in Oz, Rachael, as you're obviously prepared to give it a proper 'go'. Wishing you all the very best!

[keldaz]

Great post RachaelO's, agree with all you miss, and all you like. Work situation for your hubby pretty much exactly mirrors my own situation. Double glazing and rads, where art thou, shiver! Our current rental is double brick with no heating, another brilliant decision by us, lol.

[snifter]

So many little things I was nodding in agreement with. Great reading. A few things I wanted to add comment to

 

I think dependent on where in England you come from, what your reasons for coming, what sort of lifestyle you enjoy will make everyone’s experience very different. Obviously coming from London makes Adelaide a very different lifestyle for us sometimes which I love sometimes I don’t!

 

This! For us, well, for me, coming from the Bristol area (and before that the south west rural) our wants and hopes for what we could achieve in Adelaide were of course different to others. I personally never wanted another London or even Bristol for that matter. I like Adelaide is quieter, not so city living as it were.

 

 

 

I miss black taxis/cabs and easiness of going out. My parents did 99% of our babysitting back home so my husband and me actually haven’t had a night out together without the children since we’ve moved here. We have started looking in to the possibility of a couple of the girls from the children’s childcare maybe starting to do some babysitting for us so that we maybe can have a least one date night this year! I miss things like next day delivery, shops/restaurants being open all the time. I miss takeaway currys, good chain restaurants like Pizza Express, Strada etc, M&S foodhall (can you tell I love food yet!)

 

We had the opposite problem in the UK. No one near to babysit and so we hardly ever went out. Here, while we have family close by now who are happy to baby sit or have our child stay over, we tend not to make use of them as much as we might have done when our son was a few years younger. Still, its nice to have someone on hand who can babysit when we fancy a night out. Ease of getting around I never really thought of really. Good point. Given we lived rural for years we always relied on our driving to get from A to B and back again as cabs and public transport were never an option. I can appreciate coming from London that Adelaide can be a shock to the system in that respect though.

 

I miss the other things you mention. Plus Waitrose. And having a UK visit under my belt now it only reaffirms to me that the Aus shopping experience is sadly a good decade or so behind what we left in the UK. Will it ever catch up, I am not hopeful. But I'm learning to adapt and once you hit the CBD and some of the suburbs closer to the city itself, the dining out and night life options become a bit more appealing. We tend to head to some of the eastern suburbs, the CBD and a few of the city beachside ones for dining. Out in the suburban sprawl the dining out options are pretty poor IMHO. Decent take out can be found bit alas, often a bit too far to still be hot by the time it arrives back at our house

 

I think the lifestyle to bring up young children is great – our children are young, love the beaches, the parks, bike riding, the nature, the outdoorsiness of it all. I’m not sure what teenagers would get up to if they were not in to sport but I don’t really know anyone with teenage children so maybe their fine! We’ve loved exploring Adelaide and still have lots to go out and explore.

 

Hubby, his brothers, friends and so on all grew up here and had good teenage years by all accounts The lifestyle and socialising is done differently here I'm finding and so we are preparing our double garage to become a rumpus/entertainment shed for the kids to use as they get older. Most of the families we know have something similar and hubby tells me most of his socialising was done this way as teenagers and the whole going out partying wasn't anything like it was in the UK. Plus the things like the Fringe festival and other things can be fun for young and not so young alike

 

We’ve always looked at this as a bit of an adventure, an experience and some days I see us spending our future here and other days I don’t but ultimately that’s because suddenly you have this choice – you can just jump on a plane and go back and I expect anyone who has that option on a bad day will think about it!

 

Its fair comment. And great to have options

 

We are the type who never say never and don't talk about this being a forever move or anything like it. It suits us now, we are all happy and enjoying life and its working for us but of course involves some effort and work from us to make it happen. All up, even on my worst days here I never think about a move back to the UK or if I was still in the UK living. Its not an option I'd even consider atm. I can see us moving somewhere else in the future but it most likely won't ever be the UK again. Lifes an adventure, want to move forward, not back. Also don't feel the slightest bit homesick for England and while I miss certain people, home is wherever we happen to be, state of mind, not a place.

[JoeandCarrie]

Snifter did you come from bristol originally?? Where abouts if you don't mind me asking? Joe

[snifter]

Snifter did you come from bristol originally?? Where abouts if you don't mind me asking? Joe

 

Ooops, I've only just seen this, apologies.

 

I grew up just outside of Bristol, moved away as a teenager to rural Devon, then after many years wandering elsewhere and meeting and marrying my husband we moved back to the place I had grown up in. It was certainly strange going back to live somewhere 25 years after moving away. And for my son to walk the same roads, play in the parks, go to the school and other things.

 

I think Bristol is a great place. We were very happy living in the area.

[chrisda]

Inspired by a couple of the other posts I thought I’d do an update on our 14 months in Adelaide.

 

Overall we’re happy, have had a great first year and are looking forward to the next year and beyond. But that’s not to say Adelaide is perfect or that we don’t miss things about the UK

 

My husband found work as a Carpenter quickly although was started on a low wage (he has had two pay rises in the year he’s been there) He’s currently doing his business licence so that he then has the option to work for himself/set up a business here. In order to work as a carpenter you just need to do your white card course but to actually run your own business you need to either do a carpentry business licence or a full business licence dependant on what you want to do. This can be frustrating especially as my husband ran his own business in the UK for 10 years and ultimately the reason we got our VISA was because of his skills so to then have to pay out more money to be able to do the work you want to do and sit in a classroom to learn about things you already know (not all but some) can seem long!

 

We decided before coming that if possible I would take the first year out to get us settled, look after our two children etc and then I would look to go back to work. We were able to do this as we are on a 190 VISA so received some family benefits which definitely helped. I started the job searching in about April and then started work in June so overall the job market has been kind to us. I worked for a global company in London, 3 days a week (after having the children) and here I work for one of their competitors, 3 days a week doing pretty much the same job so I guess timing wise I was lucky that this came up when I started looking.

 

We’re not as “well off” as we were in London but like I say my husband had his own business in the UK and I think it’s unlikely we’ll be in the same position financially unless he does the same here. Having said that with me working now we’ll certainly be able to start ticking some things off our to do list.

 

I think dependent on where in England you come from, what your reasons for coming, what sort of lifestyle you enjoy will make everyone’s experience very different. Obviously coming from London makes Adelaide a very different lifestyle for us sometimes which I love sometimes I don’t!

 

I miss black taxis/cabs and easiness of going out. My parents did 99% of our babysitting back home so my husband and me actually haven’t had a night out together without the children since we’ve moved here. We have started looking in to the possibility of a couple of the girls from the children’s childcare maybe starting to do some babysitting for us so that we maybe can have a least one date night this year! I miss things like next day delivery, shops/restaurants being open all the time. I miss takeaway currys, good chain restaurants like Pizza Express, Strada etc, M&S foodhall (can you tell I love food yet!)

 

I miss double glazing and central heating that you can put on a timer! The houses are cold in winter – I’m not sure we can cope with another winter in the current rental we’re in. Heating is expensive and a waste of time/money because the minute you turn it off all the hot air escapes through the windows/walls. A lot of people seem to rely on wood burning fires to get them through winter but it is horrible not having a warm house to come back to in the evenings/wake up to in the morning. Summer, Spring and Autumn are fine but I think 3 months is a long time to be cold in your home no matter what anyone else says.

 

I think the lifestyle to bring up young children is great – our children are young, love the beaches, the parks, bike riding, the nature, the outdoorsiness of it all. I’m not sure what teenagers would get up to if they were not in to sport but I don’t really know anyone with teenage children so maybe their fine! We’ve loved exploring Adelaide and still have lots to go out and explore.

 

We’ve been really lucky that we’ve met some great people and have had a lot of fun times at their houses, at ours, up at the wineries etc We do of course miss family and friends and seeing pictures of them doing things without you always stings a bit but I’ve been really lucky that my parents have already been out twice and I met my sister and her family in Thailand at Easter. My parents and my brother and nieces are already booked to come for Christmas and New Year so I appreciate that I’m a lot luckier than others. We’re also planning on going to the UK for a holiday next year as two of our friends are getting married and we always said it would be good to check in after two years so that we can get a good comparison and then make longer term plans.

 

We’ve always looked at this as a bit of an adventure, an experience and some days I see us spending our future here and other days I don’t but ultimately that’s because suddenly you have this choice – you can just jump on a plane and go back and I expect anyone who has that option on a bad day will think about it!

 

We still have a lot more we want to do here, we’ve booked our first camping trip although still don’t have a tent! My husband wants to get a surfboard this spring/summer, we keep talking about buying bikes, we want to go to Kangaroo Island, Sydney, Queensland etc. I want to start checking out some of the bars & restaurants in the City. There’s still lot of wineries I haven’t sampled yet!

 

Like I say all in all we’re good and we’ve had a good first year and I certainly don’t regret making the move – is it perfect? No. Is it living the dream? No - but I’m pretty sure no one making the move thinks it will be.

xxx

 

Very good post. Its not all roses is it. Appreciate the balance that you have put across.Dont let anyone be fooled that the move is easy BUT for us it was the right move.