youngjimmy Posted March 7, 2015 Report Share Posted March 7, 2015 I'm jimmy I have just started the visa process I'm a plasterer and me my wife and my boy are just starting out on our massive journey in getting a visa. I work 6 days a week and sometimes evenings. we live comfortably but not excessively we want to come to aus to give our son and ourselves a better way of life. is it worth leaving our loving family behind? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpakey Posted March 7, 2015 Report Share Posted March 7, 2015 I'm jimmy I have just started the visa process I'm a plasterer and me my wife and my boy are just starting out on our massive journey in getting a visa. I work 6 days a week and sometimes evenings. we live comfortably but not excessively we want to come to aus to give our son and ourselves a better way of life. is it worth leaving our loving family behind? Hi Jimmy It seems that this is one of the reasons people return from Oz, they just dont realise the impact of family until its too late I believe in this: 'if you think you can, or cannot, you are probably right' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verystormy Posted March 7, 2015 Report Share Posted March 7, 2015 What is a better way of life? you will still go to work. You still need to clean the toilet, go shopping, do all the same everyday things. Some me will find they work less hours, some find they work more. Some find they are financially better off. Some find worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youngjimmy Posted March 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2015 A better way of life for me is not Woking 6 days a week and evenings I want to enjoy my little boy growing up where I can spend time with my family Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJT Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 I love living here in Perth and even though it has been extremely hard financially and emotionally, we have been here nearly two years and financially we are still not where we were when we left the UK, but we do get to spend more time as a family and lots of thing here are free. I struggled and sometimes still do with leaving family behind and that is the one thing I miss about my life in the UK and here is the big BUT, I was not close to any of my family and the in-laws were there for birthdays, Christmas and Easter but nothing else, we had no support, no help emotionally from family and none of this just popping in for coffee to see each other. If you are very close to family and have a great circle of friends, I would presume it would be very difficult to leave that support behind, the guilt I have with my children is that they miss out on special celebrations with family and I worry about their 18ths, engagements and weddings etc without family and as I have said we were not close with them. When you first get out here you are on your own and it is bewildering, luckily I had this page and I was a member of a Facebook page, which is where I met my new friends, it takes time to meet friends here and you can go through a lot of coffee mornings, to find some people that are on your same wave length and you just learn to do things differently like at Christmas and Birthdays. I would never tell anyone what to do as the decision is only one that each individual can make, but as Verystormy says, you still have to work, housework still needs doing, the kids still have to go to school and do homework, I have found it's only our social life that as changed and that is because of the weather, we can walk to the beach most evenings and take a stroll, the kids can play outside for hours on end not just during summer, but you will find it is just you and your small family to start off with until you make those friends. If I'm being 100% honest, if I had a very close and loving family I would have been back on the plane going back to the UK by now. I found it very hard this Christmas, as I now have a lot of Australian friends who are fantastic and have made me and my family a part of their lives and they have done and will do anything to help us out, but to see them getting excited about going to relatives for Christmas, or having cousins coming over for the day made both my children and I very sad. We cannot afford to go back to the UK for Christmas, and to be honest, it is just one day, as everyone else still have their lives to live. It was only our second Christmas here so I cannot say if it will get any better. We have already decided that we are spending next Christmas Day will all our new English friends here, as they feel exactly the same way we do. There is no harm in giving it a go and seeing how you like it, but be prepared for the pain of leaving family behind, I'm not trying to scare you or put you off, but just trying to being realistic, as you will both have bad days, and you need to think of the bigger picture when those days arrive, try it for two years, and give it a go as it could be the best thing you ever did, just be realistic that it may not work and have a contingency back up plan, make sure you have enough funds for the flight back. We always knew if we hated it we could go back and had the funds there for flights home, we never needed them, but I don't know how it would feel, if you felt like you were trapped. Being able to make informed decisions about whether to stay or go takes the pressure off, we always knew as we had listened to what advice other people gave, that the first two years are the hardest and we never planned on going back to the UK during the first two years. Now I'm here and settled, even though I still have my bad days, I won't go back to the UK, there are other places nearer to explore and see, and Perth is a wonderful place to have family visit. Good luck with everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Druid Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 Perth is a reciculously expensive place to live and tradies employed by builders are not that well paid unless you start your own company and employ your own crew, you will probably find you still need to work 6 days a week to make ends meet, the biggest difference you will find is most mornings you wake up and the sun is shining, thats what makes it all worth it, I find life and the pace here in Australia harder than the UK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verystormy Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 It is Sunday morning here, and I have just driven to the shop and back and we have a lot of new builds going on in the area. There were tradies at several. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raychelsb Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 My husbands a tradie and works for a company, not self employed. He earns more than he did in the UK where he worked for local government and does less hours. There is no requirement for weekend or evening work, and he often gets home at 3 in the afternoon, and when you are coming home to the sunshine, and can go to the beach or go for a ride in your boat or for a picnic or whatever, it feels like you have much more quality free time. i on the other hand am paid less, do more hours and don't receieve the benefits I did in the UK, I've almost had to start my career again. So it's swings and roundabouts really. Leaving family was the worst thing for me, and still is. And not having a network of family and friends is tough and lonely. BUT, I know it will take time, and I'm prepared to stick it out, I don't want to go back to the UK as I like the outdoor living and weather here too much, it's opened so many things to do. financially it's taken its toll on us and I would say we earn and spend around the same as we did in the UK. (We've found bills and food shopping cheaper, plus petrol/diesel. But then other things more expensive like broadband, white goods) so good luck in whatever you decide, only you know in your hearts what's right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatpack Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 Perth is a reciculously expensive place to live and tradies employed by builders are not that well paid unless you start your own company and employ your own crew, you will probably find you still need to work 6 days a week to make ends meet, the biggest difference you will find is most mornings you wake up and the sun is shining, thats what makes it all worth it, I find life and the pace here in Australia harder than the UK. Do you work in construction? I work a company and start at 6.30 and finish at 2.30 and I earn approximately double what I did in the UK but in the UK I was a subbie. If I work overtime it all at double time. The work is out there, some jobs are crap some are great, you just have to find your feet. Plastering though is very hard work out here as they don't dry line wall they cement render them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pegg Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 I'm jimmy I have just started the visa process I'm a plasterer and me my wife and my boy are just starting out on our massive journey in getting a visa. I work 6 days a week and sometimes evenings. we live comfortably but not excessively we want to come to aus to give our son and ourselves a better way of life. is it worth leaving our loving family behind? "this" is still what is going through my mind ! with you on this one buddy , all sorts racing through mind .... house ownership, hours working, child care ....... im a brickie wifes a nurse and our heads are still spinning ! Our problem is our hearts say go to Auz .......... yet when my head gets involved it sees figures etc and tells us to stay . But good luck guys ;o) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatpack Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 Brickies are in massive demand, $2 per brick on some sites! Ad after ad in the papers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenPen Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 I love living here in Perth and even though it has been extremely hard financially and emotionally, we have been here nearly two years and financially we are still not where we were when we left the UK, but we do get to spend more time as a family and lots of thing here are free. I struggled and sometimes still do with leaving family behind and that is the one thing I miss about my life in the UK and here is the big BUT, I was not close to any of my family and the in-laws were there for birthdays, Christmas and Easter but nothing else, we had no support, no help emotionally from family and none of this just popping in for coffee to see each other. If you are very close to family and have a great circle of friends, I would presume it would be very difficult to leave that support behind, the guilt I have with my children is that they miss out on special celebrations with family and I worry about their 18ths, engagements and weddings etc without family and as I have said we were not close with them. When you first get out here you are on your own and it is bewildering, luckily I had this page and I was a member of a Facebook page, which is where I met my new friends, it takes time to meet friends here and you can go through a lot of coffee mornings, to find some people that are on your same wave length and you just learn to do things differently like at Christmas and Birthdays. I would never tell anyone what to do as the decision is only one that each individual can make, but as Verystormy says, you still have to work, housework still needs doing, the kids still have to go to school and do homework, I have found it's only our social life that as changed and that is because of the weather, we can walk to the beach most evenings and take a stroll, the kids can play outside for hours on end not just during summer, but you will find it is just you and your small family to start off with until you make those friends. If I'm being 100% honest, if I had a very close and loving family I would have been back on the plane going back to the UK by now. I found it very hard this Christmas, as I now have a lot of Australian friends who are fantastic and have made me and my family a part of their lives and they have done and will do anything to help us out, but to see them getting excited about going to relatives for Christmas, or having cousins coming over for the day made both my children and I very sad. We cannot afford to go back to the UK for Christmas, and to be honest, it is just one day, as everyone else still have their lives to live. It was only our second Christmas here so I cannot say if it will get any better. We have already decided that we are spending next Christmas Day will all our new English friends here, as they feel exactly the same way we do. There is no harm in giving it a go and seeing how you like it, but be prepared for the pain of leaving family behind, I'm not trying to scare you or put you off, but just trying to being realistic, as you will both have bad days, and you need to think of the bigger picture when those days arrive, try it for two years, and give it a go as it could be the best thing you ever did, just be realistic that it may not work and have a contingency back up plan, make sure you have enough funds for the flight back. We always knew if we hated it we could go back and had the funds there for flights home, we never needed them, but I don't know how it would feel, if you felt like you were trapped. Being able to make informed decisions about whether to stay or go takes the pressure off, we always knew as we had listened to what advice other people gave, that the first two years are the hardest and we never planned on going back to the UK during the first two years. Now I'm here and settled, even though I still have my bad days, I won't go back to the UK, there are other places nearer to explore and see, and Perth is a wonderful place to have family visit. Good luck with everything. Thank you for your honest and open experience I for one, really appreciate it.....it's all my worst fears but I won't know until I try which is why we are....it might not work but we don't have much to lose here in terms of finances xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJT Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 I think anyone can make it work here as much as they can make it work in the UK or anywhere else, you just have to be realistic and understand at times it is bloody hard work and I'm not taking physically and you will have days when you wondered what on earth you have done, and then on other days it will be the best decision you will have ever made. To not give it a go, would be a shame, as long as you are aware of the emotional side of things and accept that some days you will need a very large glass of wine/beer to help deal with that, as it does help. The one thing I would stress you do when you get here, if you feel lonely or down, is to get on here and say so, so many people will give helpful advice, offer to meet up for a coffee and mainly tell you what you are feeling is normal. I remember my first weeks, I was so low, crying all the time, really wanting to go home, the rest of the family were fine and thoroughly enjoying themselves. I looked on here to see if any one had felt the same, but could not really find anything, so I posted a new thread, saying how I felt. Well the response I got was fantastic, not especially on the thread, but all the PM's I got with people saying they had felt the same and gave me some great advice on how to deal with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youngjimmy Posted March 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 Thankyou everyone. I'm always looking at this forum for advice. Like some body said there is no harm in giving it a go. We don't expect to go out and have it easy and have talked endlessly about the impact on us and our family. We have a back up plan in case it doesn't work out but for me to not go and try it would be the biggest regret of my life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpakey Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 I guess to answer your initial post header, how do you know until you give it a try? (better to try and fail then never know at all eh?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TartanGary Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 Hi Jimmy, I feel as though I am on the exact same boat as yourself,I'm a Painter & Decorator to trade,work 6- 7 days a week & work nights doing homers just to give my family a good life.We are in the early stages of the process,I'm studying for the Ielts exam then it's full steam ahead with regards applying for the 189 once I pass.Way I see it is if you we don't try it we will always regret it in 10-20years down the line so we as a family will certainly be going there with no intention of ever coming back but if we can't settle we know we can always come back with no regrets about not giving it a go.Best of luck in your journey mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youngjimmy Posted March 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 Thanks mate you too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 We earn more money here than back in England.I get extra pay weekends.Double for a Sunday did not get that back in England dont find it any more expensive here except drinks, but if you are earning more than its ok. Still have to clean and shop but the sun is out more so we enjoy the outdoor life. Still get homesick miss my family who knows where we will be in a couple of year but we have given it a go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derbygirl42 Posted March 8, 2015 Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 Great thread echoes all my fears esp for my OH (a plasterer)I don't want him working more hours than he does here! We are doing it anyway so guess we'll cross our fingers hope for the best and see you all on the other side! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youngjimmy Posted March 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 Do you work in construction? I work a company and start at 6.30 and finish at 2.30 and I earn approximately double what I did in the UK but in the UK I was a subbie. If I work overtime it all at double time. The work is out there, some jobs are crap some are great, you just have to find your feet. Plastering though is very hard work out here as they don't dry line wall they cement render them. Don't suppose you know if it's just cement render they do on the inside of houses as I'm trying to find as much info on australian plastering as I can I've seen something called white setting and was wondering if this is the finish coat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoopyLauren Posted March 9, 2015 Report Share Posted March 9, 2015 Who the hell know's, but I don't wanna live with regret. We're going to try..... ( After a new rule, part way thru our process. I can't even work in my chosen line of work when we get there.. a real loss, but hey ho....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikkiwd Posted March 9, 2015 Report Share Posted March 9, 2015 We moved out here 9 months ago and expected to be home sick to some extent... still waiting for it to happen! we do miss family at times but not as much as I thought (which sounds terrible) we love it here, work is still hard but we both get paid better for it and evenings and days off are always spent doing something. The kids have a much better childhood here, they play outside and are just allowed to be kids without trying to grow up too quick like UK. I love that you can go to the shop with no shoes on (not that I have but my son has on occasion) and no-one bats an eyelid, or after swimming lessons you can just put a towel around your kids and take them home without the phaff of getting them changed if you don't feel like it...Its just more laid back which we love. The local councils and city of perth are always putting free things on, last night we went down to Burswood to listen to a concert by the Youth Orchestra in the park which was actually pretty good, just for something to do on a Sunday evening and it cost nothing! Is it worth it? for us, YES... but everyone is different, you won't know unless you try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Druid Posted March 9, 2015 Report Share Posted March 9, 2015 Don't suppose you know if it's just cement render they do on the inside of houses as I'm trying to find as much info on australian plastering as I can I've seen something called white setting and was wondering if this is the finish coat? We are building a house at the moment, it is a double story but the upstairs is wood framed with EPC cladding and then cement rendered over then a layer of Dulux Acratex, as the upstairs is wood framed the inside walls are dry lined same as the UK internal walls and then skimmed over the joints and nails etc, downstairs has a cement & sand based render, then its gets a skim of a lime based bagged product, thats the white set, im not a builder so I hope this helps, we are at the "float" stage, this is the sand & cement based render on the downstairs internal walls Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youngjimmy Posted March 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2015 Thanks ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivanoo Posted March 9, 2015 Report Share Posted March 9, 2015 Hi Jimmy. I'm a plasterer from England. been here seven years. any info on plastering I'm happy to help. PM me if you like. I'm always in need of a hand from time to time so when you get here I cant promise anything but you never know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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