2 years ago...

... My bubba & I packed our suitcases...
got on a jet plane & bravely "upped sticks" to Australia..
     ... Perth to be exact...

 
It had been 9 months in the making - 6 of which we had been living apart from Neil, while he waited for his job in Australia to become permanent. So we were all SO pleased for that day to come and to finally be able to start our Australian adventure ourselves....

 ~~~~~~~~~

In May 2008, after much careful consideration, Neil and I decided that Australia, land of the "young and free", was calling us and that it was time for a new adventure. We had considered our financial situation, seen that if we were to stay in NZ then I would have to go back to work full time almost immediately after having Hannah, and decided that the work & lifestyle opportunities over here were really too much to refuse...

To cut a really really long story short Neil flew to Australia in September 2008 and started a short term contract, while Hannah & I rented out our house in Hawke's Bay and moved in with my parents in Wellington until his employment was more certain. We had no money (a bit of an understatement), as both of us had been out of work for considerable time over the previous year (me due to a really rough pregnancy & Neil due to losing his job a few months prior to the move - totally another story), so the only real solution was to live apart for a time since Neil had all of his food & accommodation provided for him while away at work. It was a rough couple of months of Neil pulling double swings - 7 weeks away, 9 days home to visit us in New Zealand & then back to Australia to work again. Hard for us all!!

In January 2009, Neil was accepted into a an Electrical & Instrumentation apprenticeship and signed a 4 year contract. There was much celebration in our house that day I can tell you!! Finally this was the ticket that we needed and our little family could move to Australia and be reunited again.
After a few more months of preparation we were ready, and off we went on our journey... filled with excitement, anticipation and a little apprehension I must admit - but after 2 years in this sunny place we are happier than we've ever been before!!

Living in Australia has it's disadvantages...

Namely of course being away from our families and friends. Although with my family in New Zealand & Neil's in England, this was always going to be a inevitable for one or both of us. At least now we are almost halfway in between lol...

Then there is of course the disadvantage of Neil having to work away for large periods of his apprenticeship. However, this disadvantage really is outweighed by the fact that he is earning such good money for studying a valuable qualification. And it is only for a short season! It will be worth it in the long run!

Then there are these "disadvantages"...


**  We share our house with plenty of these -

* photo curtesy of creative commons

**  We regularly have these hopping through our garden and at times our house -

* photo curtesy of creative commons 

** A mouse ran out of our chimney yesterday and made it apparent that I need to plug up a tiny whole in the mortar.

**  This guy came to visit our garden last week -

** My brother found this little guy yesterday when he put the seat up to go to the toilet - AFTER I had not long been myself obviously with the seat down...










Then of course there are the snakes *shudder*  LOL.... luckily the only snakes we've seen are in the zoo!!!

But despite these "small" disadvantages to a creepy-crawly-a-phobe like me there are PLENTY of advantages:

**  The constant sunshine !!
- sunbathing in the middle of winter:

**  An ABUNDANCE of absolutely devine beaches

**  Views and a lifestyle reminiscent of an idyllic holiday destination - except we actually LIVE here (I still have to pinch myself sometimes)...










**  And most importantly there are the most valuable aspects - spending life bringing up our beautiful little family, the ability to survive on just 1 income, an absolutely incredible network of friends and a fabulous church.

Perth really does have a lot to offer our family and we love it here!!

What the future has for us long term who knows, but for now Neil still has 2 1/2 years left of his work visa, we have just signed a 2 year lease for this house and we have no plans or desire to move.

Just a bit of history for you :) ...