juanz Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 Yip, all is well with us, mate. No worries! (How is that for 100% Aussie English?).Lets start at the beginning: Our trip from South Africa started with a great adventure. At Oliver Tambo International Airport there were only two immigration officials, due to the infamous strike, for thousands of international travellers . Needless to say that most people were not too appreciative of this at all. However, God lined us up for a blessing. Guess who were with us in the long agonising que? The ALL BLACKS. I had a great time speaking to a lot of the players, especially with Joe Roccocodo, the try scorer against the Boks the previous day. The children took the 12 hour flight extremely well, actually throughout the entire journey to present day, they have been truly champions in every way. When we arrived in Sydney we were greeted with very friendly Aussie faces. After we walked through customs we went and sat on a bench with 4 huge suitcases and 4 tired bodies, not knowing to turn right or left. There we were in a foreign country with nobody to greet us or to say hello to. Actually, in retrospect, it was not bad at all, just a start to a great adventure. Again we were greeted with friendly Aussies at our hotel. They went absolutely out of their way to show us the way around public transport. We took the train and bus to different tourist attractions in Sydney. A very safe and clean city indeed. Sydney is a great city with many different ethnic groups. We visited the Opera House, Zoo and took a ferry around the harbour and surrounding beaches. Three days later we flew to Brisbane to friends. The next few days proofed to be a true God sent as they treated as royalty from South Africa. As they have been living in Australia for the past 10 years they gave us a lot of practical advice from job hunting to what telephone company to choose from.On the Sunday we hired a beautiful 3.8L Mitsubishi that had enough boot space for our luggage. The reason we didn't fly again was that the flights were too expensive to Cairns as it was peak season. But even in this was a great blessing because for the next 1800km to Cairns we became familiar to the country side of the State of Queensland we would never have seen. We saw many Kangaroo's along the way. Quite a strange thing here is that you need to full up your own petrol. After filling you go inside to pay. Can you just imagine what chaos it would be if this becomes practise in SA? Upon arriving in Cairns two days later we booked ourselves in a hotel for two days that we pre-booked in Brisbane. The same afternoon we contacted the agent we arranged to keep an apartment on hold until our arrival. She was the only agent prepared to give us a 3 month lease until our container arrives. Its a 3 bedroom apartment inside a resort style living with its own tropical swimming pool and spa. Our son was enrolled in the Christian School the following week, we bought a second hand computer and a very small car named: "Mr. Bean".Three weeks ago I began to make contact with various recruitment agents and to apply for posts advertised on the internet and media. I am starting next week in my new work. My wife had an early breakthrough as she was offered a position as a relief teacher on Thursdays at the Christian School while her registration as a teacher is in the process. Cairns is an absolutely great, great city! Its very much like Umhlanga just bigger. The beaches, parks, harbour, CBD, shopping centres are truly beautiful. They even have free gas braai's available on the beaches!! We're also attending an amazing church (part of the same Christian School) and from our first visit they pulled us in their circle of fellowship. Last Sunday we even met ex-South Africans and Lyzette is invited all over the place. The only hassle sometimes is to buy certain things. It just takes up so much time. Let me explain to buy a simple thing like a plug: here in Australia it is law that a plug should be fitted by a electrician. Therefore, supermarkets does not sell plugs for the fear of being sued by shoppers in case something goes wrong. Therefore, you can only buy them at a hardware store. Now, from the time to learn last mentioned to finding a hardware store to fitting a simple plug on your wives hairdryer takes an entire morning. Buying a simple bread from a bakery seemed like a great idea but came out with a bill of R18-00. Yip, no jokes. Bread in bakeries are at least $1-00 more expensive and you buy your meat only at a butchery. For us personally the cost of living is very, very expensive because of the much weaker Rand. But once you earn in dollars everything is turned around! We planned to settle first before we look for suitable posistions in order to be sure of the work place. However, it was a bit of concern when you arrive and you see the cost of living (with your rands) without having secured a job. In our case it worked out great but I really recommend to secure a posistion with one of the spouses before arriving. It will just take the edge off of being concerned over your finances. It is also recommended to search the net for a house or apartments before you leave the shores of SA.I hope this help. This is truly a great country.RegardsJuan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansaPlease Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 What a positive bit of reading. Thanks for that Juan. You almost make me want to re-live coming over here again, because my arrival was boring and non-eventful compared to yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sa2auz Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 Wow thanks for that. Its so wonderful to read all these stories and you are so positive you will definately be very happy in Aus. I would love to do that trip up from Brisbane to Cairns it sounds wonderful. Its amazing how the coast changes as you go north. Its a wonderful feeling to know you can enjoy the country side and appreciate it without feeling unsafe.Congratulations I am sure you are going to be very happy in your new home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dedrei Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 Hallo julleBly julle raak nou gesettle en julle hou van Cairns.CONGRATS met die jobs!!! Sien julle Sondag.GroeteDedrei Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikej Posted July 28, 2007 Report Share Posted July 28, 2007 Congratulations JuanzIt shows what a positive attitude can do for one.Keep us informed. We will hopefully be going later this year and it really is interesting to hear about your experiences.Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celeste Posted July 28, 2007 Report Share Posted July 28, 2007 Hi Juanza very encouraging post, thank you and thanks for the reinforcement warning about the cost of living! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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