Well it’s been a year today since we touched down in Australia. I still wake up in the mornings and have a reality check incase it was a long dream.

First impressions, well if I am honest I thought Adelaide was a dump! I wondered what the hell I had done bringing my family all this way, also wondered if we had been transported back in time as a lot of things resembled pictures from my grandfathers photograph album :lol:
Of course when you adventure out more you come across fantastic scenery and it’s not that bad, those who are into walking, hiking and cycling won’t be disappointed.

We came to Adelaide on a 457 visa I started work a week after we arrived.
The first couple of weeks are so stressful, finding a rental, opening bank accounts etc..
We argued, the kids hated driving round all day, (Tip- Let the kids decide what to do for at least one day and let them do it).

Work helped to have something to get up for as I felt very low, missed the familiarity of things, friends, family and when faced with being on your own even the people who you did not like suddenly become thought of as long lost friends I would greet with open arms :68:
You miss things that never bothered you in the past.

Anyway we soon got on with the day-to-day things. We set ourselves a time frame of 6 months before we would re think our long-term plans, at 6 months it seemed easier to think straight probably due to being less homesick, more into a routine etc..
We networked out and made friends, some from the schools, work and of course other expats, Go to meets and invite people over. Thankfully we have made some great friends (you know who you are ;) )

At 6 months we decided we would apply for our PR visa and got that Jan this year.
After lots of discussions as a family we realized that we did not feel settled, due to location rather than homesickness so we are relocating to Perth as opposed to returning to the UK, I did not come all this way only to see/try one small city after all the stress of getting here in the first place, although there were times in the early days when I would of walked home I felt that low.
I envyed those who had settled, living it / loving it, i hope they are trully happy as deciding to move on is nearly as enormous as deciding to move here in the first place.

Life here is no different to the UK on a day to day basis, we still work, pay the bills etc.. Shopping is similar, I think you miss so much when you first arrive that you get frustrated trying to find familiar products, Just go with the flow its not worth fighting over, hungry kids will eat local produce when you don’t have the favorite item anymore.

On a more positive note, I am less stressed, things don’t bother me so much, we have bonded more as a family, spent more time together, we have traveled a lot in the last year and my kids have seen some wonderful places.

We have now set ourselves another time frame, we do this as a way of reassurance and looking back it has certainly helped, so will we stay in oz?………….
Who knows.

Di

great post. glad things are working out. what didn't you like about adeliade?

Hi Di,

Thanks for such a fab post, written straight from the heart :D

"First impressions, well if I am honest I thought Adelaide was a dump"........!!!!!!!!


What's wrong with Adelaide...??????


We have been here 3 months.......2 of us and 3 kids.....it's all brill...!!!



CORKER

Well said Shaz.
Great post, thanks taking the time to share the ups and downs of your
first year with us.

Kerry :love29: :love29:

I was just being honest with my FIRST not lasting impression.

Glad to hear you are enjoying it.

Di

Great Post Di.


Wish you and your family all the very best in Perth.



Mandy :bouncy:

It's really strange how different people see the same place ! we have just come back from adelaide on a 2 week reccie and really loved it, i'm just trying to think where you could have gone to have had such a bad first impression ?

I suppose it's just a certain feeling for a place that people get as well as we went to Brisbaine a couple of years ago and loved it for a holiday but there was just something about the place that we knew we could never live there even though a good friend of mine had just moved thereso we new people but it just didnt have the right feel about it which i was expecting to feel about adelaide as well but to
our surprise it felt really different and to us a lot better :D


horses for courses i guess, hope it feels better in perth for you at least you tried :sign61:

jox

Hi Di
Thanks for taking the time to write a great honest post. :cool shake:
We hope it all works out for you in Perth :sign03: :sign03:
Keith Sharon & Jade

Di

You've been a great friend to us and I don't know what I would have done without all your support (especially having Chayton for us while I was in hospital having Llogan).
I am truly going to miss you :crying: :crying: :crying: :crying: :crying:
I know we will keep in touch but it won't be the same.
I think you are very brave doing the move all over again. GOOD LUCK

Jo

Excellent post,Ive only been here 4days and I am in the phase `of what the hell have I done!` but I know I`m not giving up, familiarity will come, and kids will gain friends, as will me an hubby, hopefully good dear friends, can`t wait for them good days to start rolling in, we will get out an about as soon as we get a car this week,which will help. I`ve told my eldest (who is 15yrs) we will give it 2yrs and if by then we want to return,then we will, but for now we are going to go for then aussie life, at least we have given it a good go and kids will have had a different life for a while.

good luck in Perth :D

Good post :)

Can relate to that,

We are in a similiar situation, 1 year in, over on a temp but in the process of 136. We too are looking at elsewhere... Only got Brissie left to visit before making a decision.

Its funny tho... although we knew Ad was a bit rough round the edges (had already been for a visit ) :blink: we still got a good feeling initially...hmm how it all changes.

I hope the move isnt too stressful

Good luck in Perth, The beaches there are FAB :D

Great post Di,

Wishing you all the best with your move to Perth. Hope you settle quickly and enjoy your new life.

Take care
Marie
xx

Great Post, Ditto to all you've said. We feel same, but only been here 4 months.

Looking to relocate to different state, but not for another 8 months, need a mental rest from all this life-changing stuff!!!!!!

Julie

Thanks for taking the trouble to put your thoughts down... and good luck on the next leg of your journey of discovery :D

I agree with the first impression. We went for a reccie June last year and both hated it for the first 3-4 days, however neither of us admitted it to the other one. I think we were both shocked at how american it all looked, all those wide wide roads, car sale lots all everywhere etc .etc.

Anyway alls well that ends well because after 3 or 4 days driving around Adelaide grew on us. In fact we liked it so much we bought some land in Seaford Rise. Just waiting to exchange on the house in the UK and we will be there, hopefully won't get the wobbiles in the first few days again.

Some people can get here and love it straight away but for some it takes time. My experience has been that Adelaide has grown on me - it's taken a while but we like it here now. Others find that they just don't like it and never will.

Everyone's different :D

:blink: I've heard this said more than once - people, please do your homework, why are you surprised! To me it looks extremely South African, and a Canadian friend of mine says it looks just like where she comes from ... most "New" countries look like this, it's not Europe, for goodness sake! What's wrong with looking "American"? If people think Europe (or England) looks so much better than America (or anywhere with a "white settler" history less than 300 years), don't move here... :angry: What were you expecting: "Ye Little Olde Englande Down Under"?

It doesn't surprise me though Annette as personally I was surprised on how strong the American influence was over here thinking it was after all closely linked to Britain for many a decade. Thinking about it though I suppose America is closer and therefore the influence would be greater but until you get here no books really comment on that one, so it is kind of see it with your own eyes kind of thing.

I think that Australia offers a wide choice though to suit most people's taste the only thing would be if you loved the steeped in history that places like Bath as an example has, as Annette has pointed out.

Goodonya Harveyhare for trying somewhere else rather than go back to the UK.

Sasha :)

Absolutely nothing wrong with America just wasn't expecting it in Australia, but nor was I expecting it to look like England actually. I am emigrating to be somewhere different, if I wanted "Ye Little Olde Englande Down Under"? then I would stay exactly where I am and moan about the weather :angry: .

As for homework yes I had done plenty, books, internet, AB board etc etc. but nothing is quite the same as seeing it in reality.

If you read the rest of my post you will see that I did say that after 3-4 days it grew on me and we came away liking the place. It just took time that's all as I guess it would with any new place.

There is nothing wrong with taking time to adjust and things look so different when you are settled.
We are moving for various reasons, what we dont like others will love, thats what makes us individual.
You can research all you like, nothing can tell the whole picture untill you are here living it.
Look at Fosterclan's threads, It took them time, i for one thought they would go back to the UK and god we had some long conversations over it :doh:
But they are happy here now.

Di

It is true that unfamiliarity can make a place very uncomfortable to be in, but once you know where you are going, and what things look like, then one becomes more comfortable. I know of countless places in my travels, where I have hated a place (or even a hotel) when I first arrive, but then feel a lot better about it after a few days.

And it is also true that places/things can look quite different in reality, from what you are expecting, even if you have read up on it.

Australia cannot look like those countries that have had western civilisation for so much longer than us! No ancient buildings, bridges, townships, etc. for us. If you are yearning for that, then don't come. We are Americanised to a degree, but also do have a lot of English heritage, and also now, a lot of European influence.We have adapted all of that to keep what we want and to be 'Australianised' as well.

can i ask what this impression is that adelaid is 'a dump' and 'a bit rough around the edges.' what does this mean?

its not like stoke on trent in the uk is it? :(

No no I don't want it to be like England or like Europe or anywhere else, just Australian is more than OK for me. I would not be emigrating to Australia if I wanted it to be like Europe or England and I am more than happy that it is what it is, it just took a few days to get used to that's all.

I seem to have started something here that I didn't intend :sigh: to, it was just a comment on my first impressions when arriving. I really didn't mean it to be taken as Adelaide or Australian bashing, which it seems to have been.

Just to be clear I now love Adelaide and am looking forward to living there very soon hopefully :D

The first bit of Adelaide you get to see on the way from the airport is far from impressive. It is an industrial area (as you would expect of an area with a large airport) Going down towards 'Tapleys Hill Road' there is cheap housing, an ugly concrete drainage channel, weeds growing on the nature strip and bare land-scape for a while until you hit Glenelg North. Turning right from the Airport sees you in Sir Donald Bradman Drive... also a rather functional busy road. It would be nice to see the powers that be spruce up the areas that lead away from the airport as I think that first impressions really count.

Adelaide is a truely beautiful place with many beautiful buildings,tranquil park-lands and flora and fauna to astound...but this is not apparent from the 'main-drags' that criss-cross the suburbs.It is in these well used areas that the cheaper housing can be found with it's ugly (yet highly practical :D ) 'colourbond' and wire mesh fencing. Here also are the ugly 'home-made' looking shacks with there weird 'Heath Robinson' type additions and repairs. There is nothing quaint or charming about the single storey shops with their over-sized bright signs and the brash car-lots with neon prices in the windscreens.... nor the graffitti that adorns these areas.

Most of us will also be coming with a budget in mind and unless you have a mansion to sell in the U.K it is unlikley that you will be looking in the older,more established 'gentle on the eye' areas.

Adealaide is not your holiday brochure Australia. It is not a big tourist destination.... it is a place to live and for you kids to thrive in.

There was a thread started a long while back that's intention was to show the guys still on the 'other-side' some of the less than pretty sights in Adelaide with the aid of photos. Maybe we should reserect it so we can de-mist some of those 'rose-tinted sunnies' before you get here :P ;) As has been said before, it's so easy to turn a blind eye to the negative comments on here when you so desperately want it to all turn out right..... when you've taken what is essentially a huge gamble with your life and can't even see your comfort zone let alone be in it.

I'll dig it out...hold on

Here it is http://s2.invisionfree.com/Adelaidebrits/i...=6557&st=0(only two pictures :( ) maybe we should start this one up again in a new thread?

Now I MUST go back to bed now before the sun rises :D

Jan (seriously 'caffeinated' :blink: :( )