Husky Posted November 22, 2016 Report Share Posted November 22, 2016 @Neels Came across your journal by accident and was curious as to how you are doing. We are Melbourne bound in 2017. Trust all is well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mara Posted November 23, 2016 Report Share Posted November 23, 2016 @Husky, @Neels may not reply as he last visited the site on 1st November 2015 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Husky Posted November 23, 2016 Report Share Posted November 23, 2016 Thanks @Mara Find I get so caught up in people's stories. His last post seemed a little sad .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mara Posted November 23, 2016 Report Share Posted November 23, 2016 @Husky, no problem, I would also love for people to let us know, a year after they have arrived, how they are doing... it would put all of our minds at ease. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mara Posted November 23, 2016 Report Share Posted November 23, 2016 @Husky, no problem, I would also love for people to let us know, a year after they have arrived, how they are doing... it would put all of our minds at ease. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted November 24, 2016 Report Share Posted November 24, 2016 Is there any way to contact him? Find out how he's doing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mara Posted November 25, 2016 Report Share Posted November 25, 2016 (edited) Not unless somebody on the forum has contact details for him. Edited December 4, 2016 by Mara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackoFam Posted December 3, 2016 Report Share Posted December 3, 2016 I also enjoyed Neels' story. Would like to know how they are doing too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neels Posted December 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2016 Hi all. So after an absence of one year and one month (give or take a couple of hours), I am back.. No real excuse. Just been really busy. (and I won't mention the fact that I might have had a struggle with login details and passwords) @Mara, @Husky, @JackoFam, @RedPanda, Thank you for the above posts. I will be posting an update over the next few days. I am just catching up on all the reading for now... 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackoFam Posted December 6, 2016 Report Share Posted December 6, 2016 Yay! Cant wait to hear how you are doing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neels Posted October 2, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2017 2 years 3 months and 3 days ago we arrived here, or 118 weeks, or 826 days - It's a long time, mate! But time goes by in a blur of working, eating, sleeping and traveling between the bed and the office. It is really great! It is really bad! We have a lot of high's. We have a lot of low's. It is not easy, and if anybody says it is, they are lying! (Or they came here with lots of $$) And if I get to chose to do it again..... I will. In a heart beat. It is worth it. Every tear of sorrow, every laughter of joy. As you know, we are here on a sponsored visa (457). In many aspects we had a very soft landing. We were very Blessed to have family and a circle of friends here waiting for us. That made it a little (very little) easier. Within the first six months we first lost my father, and another five months later my wife's father. We were almost not able to be there. When my father died our church helped paying for my airline ticket, and I almost did not make it to the funeral. With my wife's father, we had a little money back in our savings, but if it wasn't that my mother in-law helped, I don't know.... With both funerals only one of us could go. It was a hard time. It took quite a toll on us. I will continue again at a later stage, 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted October 2, 2017 Report Share Posted October 2, 2017 Thank you @Neels. It's really hard when you are here and a loved one in RSA is in need. My grandfather passed away at the start of the year, and neither myself nor my aunt attended his funeral. We were very fortunate that he had visited us just that October, it made things easier for us. *Panda sends you mental support. It's tough. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimpleSimon Posted October 2, 2017 Report Share Posted October 2, 2017 “But time goes by in a blur of working, eating, sleeping and traveling between the bed and the office.” @Neels hopefully you get to do a bit more in bed than just sleeping....... like reading. You also left out visits to the toilet. Unfortunately, being in Melbourne, a lot of other stuff you list as hobbies (scuba diving, fishing) is hard yakka. My eldest brother moved from Durban to Melbourne thinking it would be the same. Boy was he in for a shock. First thing he did was sell his boat. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackoFam Posted October 5, 2017 Report Share Posted October 5, 2017 Thanks for the update @Neels in many ways we feel the same - but we have only been here 9 months Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neels Posted October 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2017 We couldn’t wait for the two years to pass so we would be able to apply for our PR. At fisrt it seemed so far off, out of touch... Then we got to a point where I did not think we were going to make it. The pressure of it all got to us... Got to my wife.... Got to the kids... I was public enemy number one in my own house. Nobody wanted to be here any more, and I was not going to go it alone. So, after being here a little more than a year, we were going to pull the plug. The company I work for has grown to more than double what it was when I arrived here. The 8 hours a day turned into 10 hours a day, and that turned into 12 hours a day, with more than a hour driving to work in the morning and longer at night. I was like a zombie during the week and on weekends, when I did not work, was so tired, I didn’t want to do anything. The only one in our family that was really happy to be here, was our daughter. Luckely at that stage last year, I got a small promotion and with it came an increase in pay. All of a sudden that made everthing seem a little more worth while. And I got the brainwave to invite my wife’s mother and sister to come visit. That gave everthing new meaning. My wife had something to look forward to, planning the visit with what to do and where to go. During that same time she also got a few more shifts per week at her job. Amazing what those few small changes brought about. I managed to get home early a few nights per week, and work less Saturdays. So I had time getting involved with my son’s cricket and basket ball. Still not as much as I did back in SA, but enough. I am still working my backside off, long hours, and some weekends. But we make an effort to domsomething or go somewhere at least once a month. My wife’s mother and sister was here for their visit, and they loved it. They want to come back again, and I think (I know) they would both move here given the chance. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Husky Posted October 8, 2017 Report Share Posted October 8, 2017 Hi @Neels Thank you for the honest update. So pleased things have started working out for your family, given your very tough start. Look forward to reading your post that it was all worth it one day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mara Posted October 8, 2017 Report Share Posted October 8, 2017 @Neels good to have an update... Still waiting for that much promised visit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neels Posted February 23, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2018 I can't believe it - 7 and a half months since I've been on here. I try to catch up once or twice a month, but that is not enough to keep in touch with everybody on here. Things change and people come and go.. I still work really long hours and the travel to and from work takes up the rest of the time. When we arrived here (when we did our LSD trip) we decided to live a little further out of the city. Mainly because it is more quiet, almost "platteland", but also because out here we live in a brand new 4 bedroom (rental) house with double garage in a new suburb with parks and trails for $100 to $120 cheaper a week than closer to the city. So though I spend a little more time on the road, we have a few extra dollars in the budget. We have been here now 970 days. They say it gets better after 1000 days..., (or so I've read) Min dae!! (few days) The kids are really doing well in school and sport, we are more active in the community, and our circle of friends is an awesome source of support and encouragement. The best of all - our PR have now also been lodged. Our Agent lodged the ENS nomination and our Visa application a week apart. It took almost 7 months of discussions and arguments and a lot of nerves and stress. My employer was a little difficult to deal with and it got to a point where I almost thought that they will not agree to nominate us. They know that while I'm on the 457, they have me by the short and curlies. The hours I work and what they get out of me is worth 3 Aussies, and that is no lie. Then eventually one day our COO called me up to her office - "Be straight with me Neels, will you walk out when you get your PR or will you stay?" - So they thought that as soon as I get my PR, I will find another job. Long story short, that got us to sitting down and dotting the t's and crossing the i's to get to a mutual agreement that suits us both, and it meant a couple of dollars a week more in my pay packet... So now the next countdown starts - the agent says it will be 6 to 8 months before we get a result. It all cost a hell of a lot of money, but hopefully all worth it. All we still need to do is our Medicals and that is another almost $2000 bringing the total for PR application (including agent fees) to just under $14000. Blood money! But we can now see the light at the end of the tunnel.. Only Faith will carry us through! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted February 23, 2018 Report Share Posted February 23, 2018 Congratulations! I'm glad you got to the point where they actually discussed it with you. Ek sal vir jou ook duimvashou! Sterkte! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neels Posted February 3, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2019 Granted!!! (on 25th Jan 2019) 357 days after we have lodged our application for the ENS 186 visa, I received the phone call from our Agent. It was a horrible Friday and the whole week up to that point everything I touched turned to POO. With the guys that work under me I was less popular than Donald Trump at a Democrat Convention, and at home it wasn't much better. We had plans to go away for the Australia Day weekend, and I arranged to leave work a little earlier because we still had a long drive from where we live to Apollo Bay. That morning 2 of my technicians called in sick, and I had just called my wife to say I won't be home before 7pm. Just 8 days prior, the agent called to say we needed to get AFP Clearance for our daughter because she turned 16 (in 2017), and they also needed more info from work relating my Super Fund and heaven knows what else.... So when the phone rang, and I saw it was the agent, I was not really in the mood for yet another request... I had just finished with a customer when I took the call, so I walked out of the office. All he said was, "Neels, it is done mate! We have done it!" I could not speak! I can't describe the feeling. Emotion is such a small word. I turn 50 in a couple of weeks, but I could not hold back the tears. I went upstairs and locked myself in my office till I could eventually open my mouth without getting tears in my eyes. We have done it! We made it! Our family unit still in tact. The relief that comes with it is massive! 4 years and 4 months seems like forever! But it's also just a blink of the eye. I read some of these posts and I just shake my head at some of the petty stuff people worry about. My advise is to not sweat the small stuff and let it get you under. Keep the Faith! And work harder at your relationship with your spouse and kids than you work at getting your visa. The bottom line is chances are very high you will get the visa, but it's not worth losing the people you love along the way! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ottg Posted February 3, 2019 Report Share Posted February 3, 2019 @Neels Congratulations, glad to hear that you and the family eventual pulled it off. On 10/8/2017 at 3:37 PM, Neels said: with more than a hour driving to work in the morning and longer at night On 2/23/2018 at 3:46 PM, Neels said: a new suburb with parks and trails for $100 to $120 cheaper a week than closer to the city With hindsight, will you say that if you have had opted to stay closer to work with less travel on the road, even with a slight higher mortgage cost, would you have been better, worse or the same off? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.