If you have ever visited my homepage, and hopefully you have, you will have seen that it has links to a selection of videos. The very first video on it, Our First Full Year Living In Australia, went live on January 1, 2009 just after midnight and launched this website.
The video contained some of the highlights of our first full year living Australia in 2008, all crammed into an easy to digests 3 1/2 minutes. And with that, a tradition was born.
Since then, every year I have made another highlights video and generally speaking, they last around five minutes. At last, and much later than usual, I am pleased to present my Year 8 video.
It’s been a particularly tough task this year, it was an action packed 2015. The whiteboard in the ideas room has been written on, scrubbed off, written on again and scrubbed off some more. There have been arguments, debates, compromises and raised voices.
All rather concerning really, because I was the only one involved in putting this video together.
It’s done now though and it’s a proud addition to my Full Year list of videos. So, it may be slightly later than usual, but hopefully it’s worth the wait. This is our eighth full year of living in Australia…
Well, within the next few weeks Australia is going to have three new inhabitants!
I left work the other day to pick my son up from nursery. It’s a 20-minute walk. I work just outside the city centre.
On the way I passed several interesting sights. The strange graffiti symbols that I’ve started to notice around the city (I’m sure these are tags that burglars use to pass on information, such as which buildings are alarmed – they all share the same symbols, but slightly different configurations). The fly-tipping next to the school. The remains of the burnt-out car that hasn’t been removed in a week. The shop signs that use a different set of characters to the normal alphabet. The layabouts sitting outside the shops. The litter everywhere. The sheer greyness of it all. And, as I got closer to the nursery, the dank musty smell of pot from what must be a house growing the stuff. People must know. The hospital is literally across the road.
People here don’t seem to care any more. Or maybe it’s just here, in the cities. But my in-laws live out in the country (well, as country as you can get – it’s still a village, but it’s modern and you’re not going to get people herding sheep through it) and, whilst it is better, you don’t have to go far. Everywhere just merges into the giant, interconnected, weathered, grey mass.
I am looking forward to Australia, as is my wife. We’re just obviously going through a lot of stress at the moment with the move, and we’re looking forward to getting over there and being able to decompress. But I do wonder at times whether we’re not moving TO Australia, but moving FROM the UK? Whether we’re not going to Australia because of what Australia holds for us, but because of what the UK doesn’t? I would probably say that it sounds like we are moving to Australia to get away from the UK, and I guess everyone is moving somewhere to get away from where they are – otherwise, why would they move? And there are things in Australia I’m looking forward to – seeing my family again, a new job with good prospects, a better quality of life for my family, larger homes, exploring the country, the weather, getting out more…
… there’s a lot I’m looking forward to. And Australia may not be the land of milk and honey that most people seem to see it as, but we’ll find out. And, in eight years time, I hope to not necessarily be making the same videos as Bob, but share his views of the country.
Well, all the things you’re looking forward to in Australia I can pretty much guarantee you will get. I can also confirm that Australia isn’t the land of milk and honey, and some people just don’t like this country when they get here. Some people prefer England.
I think it’s fair to say that when I moved here eight years ago, I’d ‘had enough of England”. That doesn’t mean I didn’t like it, I think England is a good country, but I had literally had enough having lived there all my life. I wanted to experience living somewhere else to see how it compared.
For me, it compared very favourably and as you know, I love it here. I can only hope that you get to love the part of Australia you go to as much as I love my part of it.
Sounds like you will start to find out soon enough, I hope your move goes well.
Hi Bob
My husband and I got our skilled migrant permanent resident visa nearly 4 years ago and we haven’t actually moved there yet… We’ve since had 2 children and we are really mixed about whether we should still move to Australia from London. My concerns are that we won’t be able to afford childcare (my mum helps out here as we both work) and my husband is a bricklayer and I’m worried he won’t find work? Also that housing is too expensive? What do you think? Is Australia still booming and do you think it would be a good move? Our visa is valid for Perth as they sponsored us… would be great to hear your views, we would need to go in the next year or our visa will be invalid! Thank you. Hannah
I see you have quite a few concerns Hannah, and I will be straight with you, Australia was a more attractive option four years ago than it is today.
Perth would have just about still been booming, but now things really aren’t so good over there. The mining industry is in quite bad shape at the moment and that is affecting everyone in the area.
You might be better off posting your question about your husband finding work on my page about Perth, there is a link to it under the main navigation menu for Australian Cities.
I think you should also read the following page…
https://www.bobinoz.com/blog/17033/whats-it-really-like-trying-to-find-a-job-in-australia-2015/
And the comments on it as well.
It would be a shame for you not to move here and give it a try, because I think if you can make a go of it, it will be well worth the move. But the key is finding work when you get here.
I wouldn’t worry too much about house prices, you’re coming from London, I’m pretty sure you will find houses cost less here than they do in England’s capital. Just do some research into jobs and I think once you’ve done that, then it’s decision time.
Good luck, whatever you decide, Bob
Thanks very much Bob 🙂
Hi Bob,
great video – thank’s for sharing your aussie-life!
It seems like you guys had another great year down under.
Cheers,
Alex
Yes, it was a pretty eventful year, plenty going on that’s for sure.
We are already having another busy year so far this year, so here’s to video number nine; coming soon.
Well, maybe not ‘soon’, but one day.