The W's have arrived in melbourne...

[Sibella]

Allison, welcome to Melbourne!! Sorry only saw your post today.

Like I said previously we live in Wonga Park (about half an hour from Mordialloc to give you an idea) but if you want to take a drive and come and have a look at this side of the valley please send me a pm. Even if it's just for a chat and a coffee.

I can also put you in touch with my friend in Aspendale then if you like.

Also Lebara Mobile has good international rates and you can top up on a monthly basis if you want - I'm on a $39.90 per month package which includes all my local calls as well as some international calls.

[Eagle101]

"Rad, Janine, Basil and Liezel where are you staying when you arrive area wise? And do you need any help? I can shop or lift from the airport or something? At the least i can send you my number so if you get stuck somehow you have someone to phone? I really dont mind. And i will clear out my mail box asap! lol!"

Hi Allison. We wil be spending our first 2 weeks in Melbourne CBD, and thereafter we will be staying for four weeks in a furnished rental in Wheelers Hill. Thanks for your kind offer - we will definately make conatct with you once we arrive and get together for a chat.

Edited June 24, 2012 by Basil & Liezl

[Eagle101]

I know....time is flying by so quickly now...cannot wait.

Basil & Liezl are also flying out to Melbourne more or less the same time as us. I think the 8th or 10th if memory serves

Hi Janine. Yip, we leave on 10 August......time is just running a bit fast now, still plenty to do! Good luck on your side (RAD - Good luck on your side also!)

Regards, B & L

[team44]

Hi Allison..loved reading your posts. Best of luck as you settle in and hoping all goes well with the interview.

[Short&Tall]

Hi Guys

Sorry I missed Alison's post on the 21st - I would have repeated Mara's post to say not to try driving to the CBD from Frankstone but to rather put him on the train in Frankstone.

Hope your hubby got the job Alison

For those just about to arrive - sorry the weather is awful at the moment, but the good news is that we arrived July/Aug last year and whilst it was chilly to start it just got better and better after that.

[Short&Tall]

if you are enjoying op shops and gumtrer you might take a look at Freecycle on the www I think as well as a Melbourne group there was a Frankstone one. Freecycle people advertise things they no longer need and would like to give away for free.

[herby]

Great post, thanks Allison - welcome to Melbourne.

I enjoyed reading and chuckling about the old lady you mention.

Your observations about the friendliness, openness and feelings of safety mirror ours.

We're north of you - near Bundoora - please feel free to get in touch if you wander out this way.

[AllisonW]

Thanks all for the call, sms's, mails and support. Wow, what a wonderful SA community.

So far no news on the job front but hubby had another interview today so holding thumbs something will come up soon.

My positive experiences continued today. Jason had to go and look for a car so he drove off and left me at the house. After 30 mins of the kids driving me mad i put lily in the pram and off the four of us went. We walked down the road saying hi to all the joggers and cyclists - it was 9am and walked along the river. Soon we discovered that we were close to the bayside shopping centre which is a large mall in Frankston. We went in and bought stuff for lunch and some other goodies and then we walked home again. On the way home we found a nature path that ran along the other side of the river and took that home. It was isolated, but clean, paved, with markers and i felt totally safe. The kids loved running along the waters edge. Soon we were home and all felt great. i noticed how little my boys knew about using the road. They didnt feel confident at all and seemed frightened to cross the road even though everyone was very good about stopping. Made me realised how sad it is that our kids are locked in the house all the time in SA. I committed to fix that and spent time explaining to them about road safety - more then the basic look both ways things.

Thanks Mara and others for the advice i have been letting Jason catch the train into the CBD for his interviews so i dropped him at Aspendale station today as i had to view a house in the area. We had an hour or so to kill so drove into Mordialloc and discovered a lovely park on the beach. We stopped and the kids played safely, i chatted to other moms and then we packed up and locked at two great houses at $440 pw, which is in our price range so we are meeting the agent tomorrow at 10:00am so that Jason can have a look. Such a simple life and so satisfying. I spent the whole day out with the kids and spent absolutely nothing - Packed some apples, crisps and juice for the park so that was all. (Actually for the car but turned into a park lunch.) Made me think of jhb where everything cost money.

[Whynot]

Hi Allison & family,

Great to hear that all went well thus far! Please keep us posted on your Ausie experience.

Regards

Mariaan & Ben

[Eagle101]

Thanks for the update Allison.

[JellyTots]

Hi Allison

Thanks for all your updates, sounds like you are settling in nicely.

Can't wait until it is our turn.

J

[Bob]

Allison!

Has it really taken all these years until now for you to arrive in Australia?

I do hope you find Melbourne a great place to live in.

Now for a good couple of weeks before the grind of finding jobs, schools and so on.

Have fun!

[AllisonW]

Oh Bob you made me laugh! Yes it has... we were a bit slow!

But so glad to be here now!

[Baobab]

Hi allison!

Good to hear about all your positive experiences

i am flying to melbourne on 9 july, arriving on 10 July.

Will be living in cheltenham for the first 6 months at least - in holmby rd, close to nepean highway

Good luck with the job search and everything else

[Nev]

lotsa peeps coming to Melbourne, awsome stuff, give me a shout when you get here so we can hook up as well

[AllisonW]

Baobab, you are practically going to be my neighbour So please let me know if you have any need for help.

Neville, thank you so much for Gids call. I appreciated it and really needed it that day. Was so good to hear a south african voice. We do seem to be arriving in droves. Its wonderful and we will need to make a plan to get together. Maybe we can chat about organising something around the end of july, beginning of august? Once everyone has arrived and settled.

To all of you guys who are arriving soon, you are going to love every moment of it. We are still enjoying it even though hubby still has not got a job yet, which is a bit of a stressor. We didnt realise that it was the end of financial year so that seems to have slowed things down. We are hoping that things will pick up from this week. We had some savings but it hurts when you pay rands.

Our application was finally approved for our house and the agent told me that we can move in on the 13th July, which just happens to be our wedding anniversary so that will be a great gift in itself. Searching for a house was a strange process. You have to go online and request the times for the dreaded inspections and wait for someone to get back to you. My experience here is that the estate agents are really not helpful at all. We had one house we like but the agent made the process so difficult because we were from SA and not working yet. We had to get so much paperwork. Then we met another lovely agent. She was the exact opposite. She told us that she had rented to many south africans and we are generally great tenants. We found a house we liked and she really made it work. I even offered to pay a couple of months upfront but she said it wasnt necessary. So that was great. the tenants are out of on the 11th, they are steam cleaning the carpets and cleaning up the garden and we can move in on the 13th.

Otherwise, i have loved shopping in Australia. Everything is an adventure even going to the grocery store. I really cant say i miss anything dearly with the exception of crosse and blackwell mayo and all gold tomato sauce. I found a bottle of C&B mayo at $8 the other day and gladly bought it. Everything else is much better. Hubby is vegetarian and the range of stuff available here is great compared to SA where he ate frys until he was ill. I love K mart and the kids clothes are well priced. And the best books are well priced here compared to SA. I really should not be buying more books but still i am tempted.

We went to the Melbourne aquarium on the weekend which was a bit ouch at $92 to get in for the 4 of us but we felt the kids really needed to do something fun after all the days that we have dragged them from counter to counter, house to house.

And the best thing ever - i went to my first estate sale and got some lovely vintage linen and a 1940's china money box for Lilith. My husband was horrified and told me that he could not believe i was rummaging through dead peoples things but i calmly told him they were dead, had no use for the stuff and would be grateful that a new person could love their possessions. On that note gumtree is a great thing when you arrive. There will be a 3 week gap when we will be in the new house and waiting for the container so we will be doing the dreaded camp out period. I went to see a lovely bohemian lady in her 70's, the most beautiful soul, who sold me: a microwave, three heaters, a electric blanket, a wool duvet inner, 4 blankets, a vacuum cleaner and a whole pile of kids fisher price toys for $50. Come on!!!

[AllisonW]

Basil and Liesel, Wheelers hill is about 10-15km if i am looking at the map correctly from aspendale so we are not too far and certainly close enough to help. Keep me posted on what you need. :)

[RAD]

Sounds fantastic Alison, just btw are you still functioning on SA time or are you adjusted already?

[Eagle101]

Basil and Liesel, Wheelers hill is about 10-15km if i am looking at the map correctly from aspendale so we are not too far and certainly close enough to help. Keep me posted on what you need. :)

Great - Thanks Allison!

[Baobab]

Thanks allison - will shout out loud when i am there!

Thanks nev - will let you know!

Nerves on edge!

[mcbear]

Congratulations, and welcome to Melbourne

[Bronwyn&Co]

And the best thing ever - i went to my first estate sale and got some lovely vintage linen and a 1940's china money box for Lilith. My husband was horrified and told me that he could not believe i was rummaging through dead peoples things but i calmly told him they were dead, had no use for the stuff and would be grateful that a new person could love their possessions. On that note gumtree is a great thing when you arrive. There will be a 3 week gap when we will be in the new house and waiting for the container so we will be doing the dreaded camp out period. I went to see a lovely bohemian lady in her 70's, the most beautiful soul, who sold me: a microwave, three heaters, a electric blanket, a wool duvet inner, 4 blankets, a vacuum cleaner and a whole pile of kids fisher price toys for $50. Come on!!!

Hi Allison - I just wanted to say - I absolutely love Estate Sales and also Gumtree. I picked up a large carved wooden 'Mother & child' African statue the other day for $20, a red couch for $20, two huge glass vases for free! It's fast becoming my favourite hobby, but the best bit is meeting the people! There are such nice people out there, and if they are practically giving something away I usually throw in a little box of Lindts, or something enjoy the ride!

Edited July 6, 2012 by Bronwyn&Co

[AllisonW]

Bronwyn, I could not agree more about the gumtree comments. I have bought two large lots of stuff to tide us over. Both ladies were lovely and the first one was a young woman about my age who invited me back for coffee and gave me loads of advice about the area.

Another Melbourne update:

Life continues to settle down well here. We have officially here for two and a bit weeks and still loving it. Sure, we have our moments of frustration but these feelings are not linked to Oz but rather the return to domestic life. The first, and yes i know horribly mundane thing, is that we are coping well with the housework. How arb i know but i had a terrible fear that my life would be a run around of constant cleaning. I tried to give it some thought when we rented the house. I looked at the flooring, made sure it had a dishwasher and made sure that it had a really good functional laundry. We are very excited about our move next friday when we finally move into our house. The thing that i have struggled with is that i miss home. I dont miss South Africa terribly yet or my house but i miss home. By that i mean i miss the familiarness of my belongings and my routine. I think that when we move into our new house and our container arrives we will have home again. Our container is set to arrive at the end of July and i cant wait. I really want to say to people i know that the temptation to just downscale in SA is huge but dont add to your emotional stress and dont underestimate how much that stuff will mean to you. When you are in furnished accommodation you will long for your BOWL, the one you like to mix your baking in or THAT blanket that you like on the couch or THAT CD or all the other things that make you feel like you are home. I miss my crafting space and the ability to create whenever i want to, my kitchen stuff and so long for my books.

Now with the grace of time i realise how rough the first week was on the kids. They are finally starting to settle. They arrive and they can feel your anxiety, even if you are trying to be all chipper and pretend you are here on a great holiday. My kids were OK but they did act out, struggle to sleep and the squabbling increased. We really didnt have time to focus on them and we had no one to leave them with so we just dragged the poor souls from the bank to houses to shops to medicare. I still feel like there are a 100 things to do every day but i also know that they cant stand the mania so now even though i feel like i still would like to go to another shop or do another chore i am forcing myself to reduce the activity of the day. And i insisted that we return to our prior routine, so even though its school holidays we are back in our supper, bath and bed routine. It does appear to be helping and i have been firm about boundaries and family rules.

The other shock for us was how long it would take hubby to get a job. He is very well skilled and in demand in SA so we thought that he would just walk into a job but i think in retrospect that unless you are amazingly unique or very lucky that doesnt happen. We found it took about 7 working days just to get his CV in the system with agencies and now things are heating up. He had three different interviews yesterday alone and we are hopeful he will have a final signed contract next week. He has second interviews lined up for next week monday. But it adds to your stress knowing that there isnt just another pay day coming up and ouch when you spend rands. Although i still catch myself thinking that dollars are rands. So when i see a t-shirt for the kids at $10, i think that so cheap - only R10! Then realise its actually R80-90.

I also think that if you are coming over as a couple you need to have a chat before hand that sets some ground rules. It gets tough, you are stressed, you cant relaly complain to anyone except him and its easy to lose it. You will desperately need each others support. I could see how much stress my husband was under after a week or so and insisted that he rejoin gym that he get active and do the things that keep him sane. Likewise he can see sometimes that i am exhausted and sends me off to the mall to just wander around, have a coffee and look at the various prices of things.

But we still love it. I love the country, love the people, love Melbourne. I just know that this will be home soon. I love the parks, with their beautiful facilities and the safety. i love the fact that i can go to a wonderful functional library and take dvds, comics and games out for my kids and check them out myself, with a limit of 40 items. I love the safe public transport. I love the fact that my kids can walk to the beach and that there is a park across the road from my new house that they can actually use. I love their school and the fact that the principal encouraged them to ride their bike to school because its only a few blocks. They are children here and i am so grateful for that. Australians just dont understand the wonder of the personal safety that they enjoy.

We went out to Mornington Peninsula this week and it is so beautiful. Victoria is just a lovely state. The Best thing for us has been to just explore. We just load the kids in the car and drive. We have no fear of getting lost and our $50 GPS (Yup, another gumtree find!) was the best thing ever.

I have been thinking that the greatest thing that i can give my kids through this experience is the lesson to be fearless. I am so grateful that i have been able to do this and i have been honest with them. I have told them its going to be hard but i have also been sure to verbalise to them that i am not afraid of the challenge. I say to them: "I feel a bit nervous but i know i am going to be ok. I trust myself and i know that i am in control of my own destiny. I am going to make this work." And i mean every word of it.

Edited July 6, 2012 by AllisonW

[JellyTots]

Thanks for the honest updates Allison, they are great to read

[zamunda]

Congratulations and wishing you nothing but all the success in Oz.

Thank you so much for the post. It is really helpful to those of us still waiting to get to Oz.

Fortunately we have had the opportunity to have visited Oz a number of times before and now finally in the process of moving there permanently.

The only regret is that we did not make the move a lot earlier. When you get to Oz you begin to realise that all this time you have been letting life pass you by. Being in Oz, there is so much freedom, so much opportunities and a great deal to do (in a positive sense).

We just can't wait for our move.

All the best once again.