The beginning of my life in Australia

It has been a really long time since I blogged, and so much has happened since then that it may take a while to get through it all. And, even though I have posted quited a few times since moving to Australia, I only feel like my life here really started after my last post on the 8th of December. That's my excuse for not writing since then, and I'm sticking to it.

So, let me start at the beginning of December...

Dane and I moved house again, sort of. We were asked to housesit for some family of friends while they were on holiday for a month, so one the 5th of December, we moved into their 4 bedroom double storey house in Reedy Creek. The same day that we moved in, I had an interview with a company called The Australian Stock Investment Group for the position of Marketing Manager. 10 days later, I started work!

Finally, a job - and an amazing one! After all the trouble I had in London trying to find work, I am unbelieveably surprised to have landed with my bum in so much butter in Australia. I am working for a stock investment company (if the name hadn't given it away) as the Marketing Manager. It is a new position and I am still finding my feet in it, but the pay is good, I have my own office with a huge desk and windows, and I am in charge of the Telemarketing department. Yes, I am part of the management team. Scary stuff for someone who didn't even study marketing! Oh well, I can wing it and learn as I go along, as I always do.

So, I started working on the 15th of December - 3 days that week, and then 3 days the next, before the office closed on the 23rd for the Christmas holidays. Sweet, 6 days of work and then 2 weeks holiday again - did I mention bum in the butter?

This is a picture of my office and the Telemarketing department....

I have been with The ASIGroup for nearly 2 months now, and I am slowly settling in. I have redesigned the website and I am focusing very much on the internet marketing side of things, getting press releases out, working with Google AdWords, etc. There is so much to do though and it is quite a lot to get my brain around, but I will get there.

It feels so good to have money coming in again after nearly 6 months of living off my savings. I hadn't yet reached the point of broke, like I did in London, but it was a huge relief to start work with some money in my savings account already, not starting from scratch.

I now feel like I have my own role in my life in Australia, rather than just piggy backing on Dane's. I have people that only I know, I have a space that is just mine, I get to spend 2 hours in the car by myself each day - I have my own life. It's a liberating feeling.

Since I have started working everything else just seems to be falling into place, and I finally feeling like I live in Australia, that this is my life, rather than just window shopping through it. I think the next important part of that story is Chirstmas and the holidays, but I will deal with that in my next post...

Australia musings...

Some of the things that I love about Australia:

• The people are super friendly - I haven't yet been into a shop without someone greeting me and asking how I am.
• The shops - not that I can afford to go shopping yet, but there are so many shopping malls around it's crazy. I love that once again I can shop all day while it is raining outside and not get wet (stupid London and it's High Street shopping).
• Drivers - while I still don't really know my way around and driving itself is quite overwhelming, I have found that the actual drivers here are great. They drive like normal, sane people just trying to get somewhere, not racing around, cutting people off etc. The other day I was reading my map book (I was lost - again) and didn't notice the light change green, so I got a gentle hoot from the person behind me and nothing more - no finger, no shouting, and even a little nod when I apologised.
• The landscape - I love that I have the beach and the mountains all within a half hour or so drive from our house. There are so many walks available, winerys we can visit, activities on the beach - the things we can do outdoors are endless.
• On a similar note, the parks - there are so many parks in the residential areas, and they all have climbing things/swings etc for children, and they often have gym equipment for adults.

I know this list isn't very long yet, but I haven't actually experienced that much yet - I need to have a steady income again before I can get out there and actually see the Gold Coast, and Australia, for what it is. But I am getting there...

But, there are also a few things that I dislike:

• Roundabouts - they love them here, they are EVERYWHERE, I actually start to feel a bit dizzy when I drive.
• The new housing developments - they all look the same. If I hadn't seen a different area name on the road signs, I could think that I was in the same area I had started in.
• The price of food and booze - it's really expensive here.
• BBQ's - I could get killed for this one, but putting some sausages on the grill, slapping them between a piece of bread and putting on T-Sauce just isn't the same as marinated steak, boerewors, potato bake and salad!
• And lastly - I don't actually feel safer here than how I felt in SA. Maybe it's just too ingrained in me to make a difference. The other day I was sitting at home with the front door wide open because I was waiting for a delivery. Meanwhile a few streets away a guy was breaking into someone's house, tying them up at knife point and robbing them. I guess the crazies are everywhere, and it doesn't make me feel safer than I did at home.

Just a few thoughts on my time here so far....

3 weeks today

Three weeks ago today Dane and I arrived in Australia. They have been a very up and down 3 weeks....

I had a massive cry the other day because I feel lonely. I have left all of my friends in the UK, and all of my family in SA, and I feel very very alone here. I know you can't make new friends in just 3 weeks, especially when you aren't working and hardly leave the house, but that doesn't stop me from feeling lonely. After a good cry, I felt a lot better, but I know it's going to take some time before I feel 'normal' here.

On the plus side, I got called in for an interview on Tuesday, and then a second round interview on Thursday. Its an Account Coordinator position with an advertising agency in Brisbane, and they seem really great. Down side, the commute is an hour by train, and there are only 2 trains an hour, so I have to take the first train and get there early in order to get there on time. But, I commuted for 3 years in London, so I think once I refresh my book supply I will be fine.

I should hopefully hear about the job next week - holding thumbs. Actually in Aussie land they don't know the phrase 'holding thumbs' - it's crossing fingers. So, crossing fingers....

From the 6th of December, Dane and I are going to be housesitting for some friends' aunt and uncle while they are in the states. We met them yesterday, and their dalmation, and got a tour of the house. It's going to be good to have our own space for a while I think, but if I do start working soon, the commute is going to be extra long. But still, crossing fingers...

My first week...

My first week living in Australia has come and gone.

I must admit that we haven't done anything terribly exciting. We have been doing the usual family visits that one must do when one has been away for so long, as well as popping in to see a few friends here and there. But, for the most part, we have been doing admin stuff. Sounds exciting doesn't it? Well, it is as exciting as it sounds.

This past week we sorted out:
- bank accounts
- medicare cards
- a tax file number for myself
- registering at a doctor
- registering with recruitment agencies

We are also in the process of sorting out car insurance for the little Toyota Dane's dad is lending me, and exchanging our UK driver's licenses.

My little car...


Today, we had the fun journey of driving into Brisbane - a good 50km's away - for a 15 minute meeting with my recruitment agent, just for her to tell me she doesn't actually have anything on offer at the moment. So, the job hunt isn't really off to a good start.

On the other hand, Dane should be starting work on Thursday this week. He needs to sit a test to renew his electrical license, but at least he can do it online and doesn't have to go to night class like he thought he would. So, at least one of us will be bringing some money in soon. I may just become a lady of leisure....

And we have landed...

After a year and a half of trying to get a visa for Australia, I am finally here.

Dane and I left London on the 1st of October, and spent a glorious month with my family in South Africa. I loved every minute of it, but it also reminded me on what I have been missing out on while living in London. Family dinners, Christmases, meeting my brother's girlfriend, rugby games, braais - all the things I love about my home and my family. I started having doubts about my decision to move and things that I was once certain of became a little blurry. But on the 30th of October I boarded the plane from Durban to Johannesburg and stuck to my guns. I would never have known if this is the right decision or not if I hadn't gotten on the plane - only time will tell, but I need to be in Australia to know if moving to Australia was a good move or not.

So, after many tears and sad goodbyes, we left for Johannesburg. My rugby team, the Sharks, were playing in the Currie Cup Final against Western Province that afternoon, so Dane and I set up camp at the bar to watch the game. We didn't get to see the end, but we heard the cheers from our boarding gate - my team won :) After a long delay, we finally left Johannesburg for Sydney. Our flight had been delayed by 2 1/2 hours, so we had to change our connecting flight from Sydney to Brisbane too, and we nearly missed that one as well. We rushed as quickly as we could from the international terminal, through security and customs, got our luggage, checked it in again and with 20 minutes to spare before boarding started, we joined the queue for the shuttle bus to the domestic terminal. And there we waited. The buses weren't going because there was a storm coming. I have never heard anything so ridiculous, and I lived in London where sunshine seems to shut public transport down.

The bus collected us 5 minutes after our boarding started, and we only just made it to our flight in time. Luckily the 'storm' had also meant that our plane wasn't taking off until it cleared. We landed in good time, and were greated by Dane's brother and his kids, all dressed up for Halloween. In the hecticness of our flights, I had totally forgotten the date, but at least our delayed flights meant that the kids got to go trick-or-treating before coming to the airport.

And so, after 14 hours of flying, here we are. Day 1 in Australia is just about done and I need to find some way of making my new home just that - home...

Everything that comes before Australia

After visiting the Gold Coast with Dane over Christmas 2008, I knew that Australia was a place I could live in. I could see myself having a life there, and being happy there. I could see Dane and I having a future there. As much as I miss South Africa, and I do still wish to live there again one day, I knew that the next chapter in the life of 'Janelle and Dane' would lie in Australia and not South Africa.

It's a big decision to move to another country, let alone to move there with your other half, so it wasn't a decision we rushed or made lightly. We read everything we could read, researched what visas would be available to me, spoke to people who had already made the move, and weighed up all of our options. But, it soon became very clear that as soon as we could, we would move to Australia together.

At first I considered a skilled workers visa, but after speaking to a few agents and doing some online assessments, it became clear that this wasn't a viable option for me because of my age, and because of my limited work experience (also due to my age). So, we looked at option number 2 - a spouse visa. We certainly didn't want to get married for a visa, but all we had to do was live together for a year, and make sure we could prove this. Step 1: tick - we had just moved in together before our Christmas trip to Australia. Step 2: live another year in London and then complete visa application.

So, that is what we did. We made sure we knew exactly what was required for my visa, and spent the year compiling 'evidence' of our ongoing committment to each other. This meant keeping everything from our tenancy agreements, to bills with both our names on, setting up a joint account, photos from our holidays, statements from friends and family who knew us as a couple and so on and so on. The list seemed endless.

In December 2009 we reached the 1 year requirement of living together, so we began the process of putting together my visa application. As straightforward as the process actually is, it was still incredibly daunting and overwhelming. This visa would be such an important part of our life in Australia, that I didn't think I could, or should, be able to do it on my own. I enlisted the help of a migration agent, who was indispensible to me. I probably could have done it all on my own in the end, but the money we paid her was certainly worth the sanity I got to keep in exchange. She answered all of my inane and stupid questions, went through each and every document with a fine-toothed comb, and made sure my application had everything it needed to have.

It took us 4 months to put the whole thing together, and it was the thickest document I have ever worked on in my life. It was also the most expensive. After the medical checks, police checks, the visa fee and the cost of using a migration agent, I had spent close on £2000. Sjoe! My visa application was lodged on 26 April 2010, and then I was told to just 'be patient'.

I was told processing times could be anything from 3 - 4 months, and that is if there are no delays. But, I was also told there was a chance mine could go through quicker, as it was a straightforward application, no children were involved, no exes in the picture, nothing to really cause any alarm on behalf of the Australian government. And so, I waited. And waited. And waited.

On 26 August 2010, 4 months to the day, I received the much awaited email saying that my visa had been granted. I dubbed this day 'Visa day', much to Dane's amusement. The feeling of relief, the weight that was lifted off my heart and my shoulders on that day was unbelievable. I hadn't even realised it was weighing down on me that much.

At the moment, we are in the last stages of waiting - waiting to finally get there. Dane and I have been travelling since July, and right now we are in the last few days of our London chapter. On Saturday, 2 October 2010, we fly to South Africa to visit my family for a month, and then finally, on 30 October 2010, we will board our Qantas flight to Sydney, with a connecting flight to Brisbane and our new Australian chapter...