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The Rob and Lesley story, (Warts & all) - (Aus. Outlook, 04) This is a brief account of my family's experiences since we migrated from London. I was a London policeman and my wife Lesley, a Paramedic. We have 2 daughters, now in their mid teens. During 1998 we had a 6 week holiday, travelling around Australia. It seemed to us a perfect place for family life, with its beautiful environment, climate and generally relaxed, friendly people. Once we had toured Australia, it was hard for us to settle back into UK life. The decision to migrate involved much deliberation; we both had good jobs, a great social circle, as well as family in the UK. Our decision was based on wanting to do the right thing for our girls and give them the best possible start in life. We wanted to escape the congestion, pollution and take advantage of the space and climate Australia offers. Obtaining a permanent residency visa was relatively straightforward. We completed the visa application ourselves, it was a tedious process and I understand why so many people seek help from a migration agent. Lesley gained sufficient points to obtain a skills visa with her paramedic qualifications. We applied in January and by April had provisional approval, pending medicals and criminal history checks. Our passports were returned to us during August the same year, with our permanent residency visas in place. Just over a year after our holiday, we were on our way back to begin our new lives in Perth. We chose Perth, mainly because the WA police had been so helpful and I was able to start work almost immediately on arrival. This combined with research on climate, schools and lifestyle. Lesley and I made a brief 10 day visit to Perth prior to migrating. This may seem adequate to have a good look around, but I firmly believe you never really get to know a place until you actually live there. We arrived in Perth and spent our first 7 weeks in one small hotel room. It was quite bewildering not knowing anybody and the occasional bout of panic set in. I started work and the girls quickly established friends and picked up the Aussie accent. Our youngest daughter was selected to swim for WA, we were so proud. The beauty of our new environment and the predictable sunshine made us feel good inside. You tend to feel emotional after migrating, yearning for a place to call home, consequently we signed a contract to buy a house within a week of our arrival. In hindsight this was a poor decision, we simply hadn’t given ourselves sufficient time to research the property market. Although we chose a good suburb, we were mislead by an estate agent and then had some expensive problems to resolve within the house. I’d recommend migrants rent for a year before buying and research their local market. This provides an opportunity to get the feel of a few suburbs and be thinking logically at the time of purchase. We soon developed a social circle and all was going well. However, we began to feel increasingly isolated and unable to take advantage of opportunities readily available in the major cities on the east coast. Jobs were offered to us in Melbourne and we relocated. We sold our house and spent 5 days driving across the Nullarbor, arriving in Melbourne during November 2001. I decided on a career change here and together with Lesley became a paramedic. Although Melbourne offered a vibrant atmosphere, climatically it seemed fairly similar to the UK. We gave ourselves 2 years here in an attempt to settle, we couldn't and one last move was required. We wanted to live somewhere with a good climate, job opportunities, as well as have a great lifestyle. This time we relocated to Brisbane, where we found everything we were looking for and more. The biggest advantages of life in Brisbane are the climate and environment, it’s large enough to be a city, but still retains the friendliness and relaxed atmosphere of a smaller town. The girls settled into their new school surprisingly well (3rd since arriving in Australia) and now have a great social circle. They were always our biggest concern on each move and the main reason we migrated, it's obviously a huge relief to parent's when big decisions finally work out for everybody. It’s fair to say we've been very fortunate in respect our girls have always enjoyed this adventure and adapted so well on each relocation. Prior to each move, we had become accustomed to extensive research into suburbs, schools etc. With each of the moves, we developed a more focused approach to our research. Of course where you live is very much a personal choice, but if you get off to the right start in Australia, then you'll find the lifestyle you desire, without expensive mistakes and adversity. Our move to Brisbane has been entirely worthwhile. Lesley and I are still paramedics in Brisbane and enjoy this rewarding, often challenging job. We have improved working conditions to the UK, with several weeks annual leave a year and after 10 years service we qualify for 6 months paid leave. The wages are not as good, but a reduced cost of living and no heating bills etc. offset this. We have a desire to assist others migrating and decided to form a comprehensive settling in service, which we named Brisbane Bound. Families using Brisbane Bound feel welcome from the moment we meet them at the airport. They are pleased with our high standards in accommodation and then there’s the support and social functions we provide. After all we make big sacrifices to change our way of life and it’s so important to have a good start. Making friends isn’t easy at first, although you will soon have lots of acquaintances through work or recreational interests. Our social functions aim to speed up the process of friendships. After the mistakes in Perth, Lesley and I rent our current home, with the intention of buying within the suburb at the end of our lease. After much research we bought the houses for Brisbane Bound and pride ourselves on offering migrants and visitors quality accommodation in excellent locations. During these past few years, we've experienced some low points, in fact it has been difficult settling into a new country then living in 2 cities, before finding happiness in Brisbane. The only real downside is we can’t pop round to see our mums for a cup of tea, or share a pint with an old mate from the UK. Having said that we do have a constant stream of visitors, including the mums who are now in there 80’s. We keep in regular contact with friends and relatives by email, as well as inexpensive phone calls. It’s reassuring for us to be able to return to the UK for a visit, in less than a day of travel (circling the M25 can take just as long). We’ve made 2 trips back during the past 5 years; the second visit reinforced our decision to migrate. In fact migrating has made us stronger characters and brought us closer during adversity. I consider us a very fortunate family to have shared such diverse experiences and yes we'd do this all over again, this one life is too short to miss opportunities. My only regret is we didn't come here sooner. Success here is based on a positive attitude, open mindedness and the ability to adapt. I would encourage readers to do plenty of research prior to migrating and bare in mind it may take a couple of years to settle. |