Are we being truthful and realistic..

[Guest farooq]

Nice Stuff!!!

I do agree with you.

[LeonF]

Well were very much in same boat as Ajay, a transfer within a large multi-national.

So I had a job lined up which was better than my old job, the company sponsored our visa application, paid for the move , set us up in accomodation , had a relocation agent help us look for a house, schools etc. We had no problems with immigration or customs. We knew a large number of people over here which we worked with in the past and some of our best friends came across straight after us, how easy is that.

We did a lot of research prior to coming across and I visited Australia previously on business. We came across for a LSD trip and so knew exactly what to expect.

It is difficult to think of negatives

If there are any negative it is missing the family Although I am working on getting them across as well.

I realise that we have had it very easy and that it will be more difficult for others, however I thought I would share our experiences.

Leon

[Tim & Abby]

Hi there, and thanks for an interesting discussion.

Prehaps there needs to be a new thread or area 'What it's really like'?

In the 'LSD trips' section someone mentions crime in NZ, for example, which is one of our reasons for leaving SA. We scour the Australian newspapers to get some idea of what incidents make headlines. My impression is that it IS safer, but we'd love to have our impressions confirmed or disconfirmed.

For instance, do you all have burglar bars and/or alarm systems over there? Do you have to lock all your doors and windows, even if you're at home? Do you allow your kids to play outside, in the street?

Abby (and Tim)

[Guest Jules]

Hi Tim and Abby,

Yes there is no doubt that it is safer here. In the newspapers each and every murder makes headline news. In most cases murders will occur between people who know each other, i.e an argument that went too far or a domestic dispute etc. There are obviously exceptions from time to time but the South African standard of several people entering your home, terrorising and murdering the occupants and then stealing is virtually unheard of. People live on isolated properties with no problems, hijacking is non existant and armed robberies at shopping malls do not happen.

Vehicle and theft from property does occur. Nowhere near as bad as in South Africa but it is not unheard of. The difference is that your vehicle will not be stolen with you in it and a burglar will enter your property when you are not at home. I personally don't know anyone who has had their vehicle stolen or been burgled but you do read about it happening in the newspapers.

A lot of houses are fitted with security screens and alarms. This also has an effect on your home and contents insurance premium. The standard security screens that you get here are fitted to your existing window with pop rivets and are very flimsy. They would definetely not be a deterrent to any serious burglar. They have built in fly/mossie screens, the real intruders in Australia You can have a look at what's generally available here The aluminium ones are the general standard and look similar for the windows too. I personally don't lock doors and windows when I am at home during the day, nor do the neighbours that I know of. I do lock up at night. My husband works away from home most weeks. If this had happened in South Africa I would have been a nervous wreck and would have probably spent most of the night lying awake listening to every creak in the house but I feel quite comfortable and relaxed over here and have never had any problems.

I have 2 kids, 12 and 8 years old. They walk to and from the bus stop to school (about 800m) away without problems. Kids play and ride their bikes in the streets and parks no problem and are free to come and go as they please. People will be seen walking their dogs or going to the shops after dark, women or kids alone etc and you don't hear of anything untoward happening.

I hope this has answered some of your questions. I really don't think that safety or security should be a factor to consider when making the move to Australia from South Africa, or anywhere else.

Julie

[Mara]

Hi Tim & Abby

Two houses in Auckland, fifth house in Australia, no burglar bars and only present house now has alarm system. Most have aluminium security doors, however, I sometimes think that the only purpose they really serve is to hold up the netting that we have in front of the doors/windows to keep the flying insects out. We close our windows when we go out, but only lock them when we are away on holiday. At night, in summer, the windows would mostly be open. We live in a dead end street, the kids are forever playing soccer, cricket, skipping rope, hop scotch, riding bikes, riding skateboards etc in the street. It is quite a thing to negotiate your car through the throng sometimes! Just as it should be.

[Ajay]

Hi,

I live in a quiet suburb in Sydney's western suburbs, so can comment on life there? We have no burglar bars or security gates. The only covering I have in front of my opening windows is the fly-netting to keep the flies and mozzies out. I still lock doors and windows when I'm at home (hey, I've only been here 8 months and still think like a SAffer!) although I know that there is no reason to! My kids are already blase about security and, in fact, went to school the other day and left the sliding door wide open and the front door unlocked!! My boys (ages 13 and 10) walk or cycle to and from school every day (school is about 1km away), and often go out for walks to visit with friends in the afternoon when they get home. The area we live in is cery hilly, so they unfortunately can't really play on the street, but they do often walk down to the sports grounds about 1km away and play there instead.

Australians (or maybe it's just the ones in my area) seem to use the garage for everything EXCEPT a car, so it's not unusual for cars to be parked on the street instead of locked away. as far as I am aware, there have been no incidents of theft or hijacking in our area.

Hope this helps

Ajay

[ExASP]

Hello all again...just my two cents worth...according to those in the know, Alice Springs is the crime capital of Australia...or so I have heard. Yes everybody must have read all the news and seen the ABC programme on the Aborigine saga...

We live in a unit across from a Town camp as they are called and yes we hear them shouting and partying all night some times, but they tend to leave us alone. we have no burglar bars..just those flimsy fly screens and the locks on our doors is really very basic. We have a doggy door that is open and our worst fear is for these ugly spiders to come in.

We live 600m from the school and my kids (11 and 9) cycle to school and back every day. We both work full day and the school holiday is very long but I dont put them into child care...they stay home alone and dont lock the doors...

My son and I have been out walking after 8 at night alone without my husband going beserk and we dont even see any baddies anywhere.

So I would say it is safe here as well.

[Harry]

I don't quite know how exactly to say this, Abby....

...but pretty much ANYWHERE, other than a war zone or Colombia, is safer than SA. That is hardly a measure. If the question were whether NZ is safer than Oz, or wherher Oz is safer than the UK, then I'd understand the question......but to compare it with SA kind of stops one in one's tracks and causes one to want to shake one's head and check if one heard the question right.

In Vancouver, Canada, where we stay and which is a big city with drug problems and layabouts and crime....EVERY MURDER is a BIG DEAL and is discussed at length. EVERY rape is news. EVERY missing kid is news. Every time someone is hit by a car on a pedestrian crossing IT IS NEWS. Many people here sleep with their doors unlocked or open.

Go see Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine" if you do not believe me. There he goes to Canada to see why it is so safe and promptly walks in by people's front doors....and they confess they never lock. they don't need to.

So, it is SA that is weird...not the rest of the remaining civilsed world.

[Dedrei]

I would like to thank all of you, especially Riekie & Mara, for posting your honest experiences of Australia.

Just made me realise we are not alone, once again, and others have or are still having some issues. Good on 'ya for posting!!

What Mara mentioned about Queenslanders not liking non Queenlanders, is so true. We often had experiences of this. Now we know this is who they are and try and deal with it.

The most difficult for me at the moment as well is the fact that I had realised few days ago that I will never have the kind of frienship I had with one of my best friends. The fact that anything can happen to your family while you are away. At times like this, we just need to focus on why we moved to aus orginally and keep reminding ourselves of it. Their is no way that we will be going back to SA, no freaking way!

We will make it work, no matter where we are/will be in Australia.

[Guest JWEL]

This is not a good Monday for me, really a bit blue. Reading through all these posts, my heart started palpitating, shallow breathing, THE LOT!

I NEVER, EVER, EVER expect moonlight and roses with such a huge change of life. Even moving from one city to another in RSA is traumatic enough. BUT I’d rather stay in the ‘new’-ness of Aus, than the much-the-same unfamiliarity of Jo’burg. I LOVE Cape Town.

Life has been exceptionally good to us and still we made a determined decision to move to Aus, out of free will, after we properly did our homework.

I stopped reading this thread, because I do not want to know the bad stuff. I know it will be there, but I am willing to experience it for myself once there, and maybe I’m lucky, maybe some of them do not seek me out.

I worry that all these job offers that lies ready to be taken up, will fade away, because our visa is struggling to go over the finish line.

I worry that my Afrikaans kids won’t be fine in the English school, especially because they have to skip a grade according to their ages.

I worry that I would not be able to make friends easily. I know I have a self-conscious nature.

I worry that I will not be able to cope with the different type of houses there. We have a huge, beautiful ‘brick” house on which we worked for ages to get it to our liking.

I worry that all our savings will fade away quickly during the first few months in an attempt to settle.

I worry that we might be done in by someone, just because we do not know the ropes of the businesses that we need to deal with (renting house, buying car etc)

Jurg, thanx for your post. Everyone’s different, but this morning I needed YOUR post.

For the rest, maybe I’m brave enough to read your posts in depth by next week. It is not wasted at all !! The truth is very necessary to keep us on track. Especially to be made aware of any loopholes.

Luckily, as I scanned through, I saw that positive DO outweigh the negative. Interesting phenomenon.

Isn’t this forum GREAT??!!!!