Wow... I can't believe how long it's been since I last posted on here. My excuse? I guess as you settle into your new home, everyday life catches up with you and there's so much to do that writing comes way down the list. Maybe I also think that I've passed on the vast majority of useful information I can to my followers, so have been thinking is this blog really useful any more. However, as yesterday was the birthday of my most loyal follower, Sarah, I thought what better than a new blog post as a long-distance birthday present!
So on 10th April, I hit my first milestone - a year of living as a permanent resident in Australia! My initial thought was "I can't believe it's gone so quickly!", but on the other hand, the UK feels like another world from a different time and it seems odd that I've only been here for a year when I feel like I've lived here a lifetime! A month and a half later, I hit the second one - my first anniversary in my job on 27th May. Again, in many ways I can't believe I've been there that long, but in others I really can't remember what it was like not to be working for such a great company!
At the beginning of July, I hit the first anniversary in my apartment, but managed to move out just before I reached it! One thing I can say I definitely don't like is apartment living - close proximity to everyone, noisy neighbours (yes, even in upmarket areas like Woollahra!), continually changing people, really doesn't suit me and as I care about my impact on fellow human beings, it's meant I've spent my life not doing things I'd like to do when I want to do them because I might upset someone! There are areas near to the centre of Sydney where you can find houses for the same price I was paying for an apartment, but with the weekly commute to Canberra likely to continue for another year, I decided that a move down the coast from Sydney might be in order. The area of coast I was looking at was just north of Wollongong, between Stanwell Park in the North & Thirroul in the South. The coastline here is spectacular with fantastic surf and set against an escarpment rising up just a few hundred metres back from the beach. The train into Sydney takes 1.25hrs, driving in is around an hour and it knocks 45 mins off the drive to Canberra each week. More importantly, renting houses here is far more affordable than in Sydney even though it is still a sought after area in which to live. So what better time than to try out life down the coast while I don't need to commute into Sydney every day!
The only problem with properties in the area is that they tend to either be shacks needing renovation that you wouldn't want to live in or they've been done up and are extortionately expensive to rent as the owners try to recover their investment! After nearly 3 months of looking around and having only found one place that then fell through because the owners decided to sell, I was despairing of finding anything and was in the process of looking at other options still in Sydney. Then by chance, after viewing another dilapidated property, I drove round every place listed on Domain (the house-hunting website) to see from the outside whether I thought they were worth viewing. What I found was one place that looked perfect - in Thirroul, 450m from the beach, 2 mins walk from the shops, 6 mins walk to the train, detached house with front and back gardens and a deck! It was being rented directly by the owners (good news as real estate agents over here are horrific to deal with) and when I sent a quick email I got an equally quick response saying they had an open house all day the following day (Saturday)! What a pleasant change from the usual 15 min open house you get to view a property and decide whether you'd like it! I had something else on in Sydney, but confirmed that I could make it towards the end of the viewing - the response I got was "don't worry if you're late, we'll be here for another hour anyway"! I turned up and found a lovely Scottish couple who've been living in Australia for 28 years, a beautiful house which had been freshly painted throughout, had beautiful rich shiny wooden floors, amazing plasterwork on the ceilings and felt like a bright, sunny, happy place to live! I was smitten and within a week we'd agreed a move date.
So, with 3 different anniversaries which have been and gone, what are my feelings on expat life a year on - has Australia lived up to my expectations? I guess to answer that, I need to define what my expectations were and other than a change, an opportunity to live in a country which I loved from the moment I first came here and an opportunity to live in the most beautiful city in the world, I'm not sure that I had any! What I can say is...
- After the initial frustration at small-minded employers, I've found that the job I have really is better than 90% of any jobs I've ever had in the UK. The people I work with provide many of the frustrations you'd find anywhere, but have also been keener to embrace the massive changes going on in their workplaces than those I've worked with in the UK.
- I've met some wonderful new friends who I've found are much happier to embrace additions to their circles compared to in the UK where quite often it's hard to break into a 'clique' that already exists.
- I've loved the sheer amount and scale of events going on in Sydney which means if you feel at a loose end (not sure when I have time to feel that!) you can always find something to do, see or participate in.
Having said that, there are some downsides and compromises, some of which I anticipated and others that have been more of a surprise:
- Housing - Sydney is a very expensive place to live and unless you have limitless funds, finding what you want where you want it is a challenge... If you're going to live in some of the inland faceless suburbs miles from the city, you might just as well be in any other grotty city in the world!
- Public transport - live close to the city and the public transport generally works well. Live further out and it turns into a nightmare - 50% of the trains I've taken from Thirroul have been delayed or cancelled or had extra stops added because another train has been cancelled. Within a month of moving I can definitely say this is not a place I could live and commute daily into Sydney!
- Bureaucracy - trying to get services sorted out here is even worse than in the UK. The policy over here seems to be train your staff to placate irate customers instead of concentrating effort on not making them irate in the first place! Telstra's assumption that people can just take a day off work whenever they need them to because they didn't do their job properly is the latest in a long line of gripes!
- Lack of holiday - I was used to 6 weeks holiday being pretty standard in the UK for my level of role. Going back to 4 weeks and especially when you need at least 3 of those to be able to travel home to see family or friends is a shock. It certainly does have the effect of making you feel more burnt out as you lack the ability to have reasonably regular long weekends that help to recharge the batteries.
Despite the pitfalls, all-in-all I'm loving the antipodean life and for the time being at least, couldn't imagine being anywhere else!
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