People & Places
Montoya's Australian blog April '08
Firstly a big hi to you all and a big apology for such a late blog!
December was our last entry and, to be honest, the last few months have been rather busy and the time just seems to have flown by.
So, what's been going on? I hear you say. Christmas came and went, which seemed so long ago now, however it was a tad wet this time round! The Gold Coast, and Queensland in general, has had so much rain this past summer it's unreal - it's been the topic of many a conversation! However, since the autumn arrived in March, temperatures have been a good 26-29 degrees and sunny on a regular basis with the odd shower here and there.
As I write this (first week in April) it's still mid to upper 20oCs in the day - warm and pleasant. However, at night we are dropping to a mere 15-18 degrees - Shock horror! It is cold for us to be sure, we do laugh, however, when we look back at the UK temps and the recent weather you have had (Snow in April, what's that all about?). Still, I wouldn't change our weather for anything else; we usually have 300 days of sunshine up here on the Gold Coast, that's why I guess they call Queensland the sunshine state!
So, I see the regular Emigrate show happened in the UK, where we tried to have some form of live link up with those that were there. The first show up in Scotland was not too bad, but unfortunately the southern version down in Sandown was not quite as successful! That's modern technology for you, I guess...........
It seems that there are many, many, more Poms coming over here now to enjoy the Australian way of life. We see and meet so many on a rather regular basis out here. It's funny because the 'newbies' stand out rather easily - the first sign being that they're ever so white and the second usually showing some form of England soccer shirt or cap, I remember being the same. It's like a statement saying, yes were English! However as you settle in over here in this wonderful country you start to forget that you are indeed of UK origin and somehow feel that you have always lived in Australia.
We look back now over the last two and a half years and try to remember what our life back in the UK was like. We do, of course, miss family and friends to a degree, but realise that our new family of friends are out here now in Australia. We have even met back up with old friends from old Basingstoke, where we lived in the UK, who have also now decided to join the Australian bandwagon. I hear that over 20,000 plus Poms are emigrating each year now to OZ, that's a fair number! But why wouldn't you? Sun, sea, beach, sun, more sun etcetera... It's a great lifestyle as I have said so many times before!
The way I see it is that you have one shot at life, and in our situation it was a situation of getting up for work, earning money, paying bills and just getting by in Ole Blighty, day in day out. Gather at weekends for those indoor get-togethers as outdoor barbies were very weather dependant, do the same things and repeat the process… Or we could grab the bull by the horns and say 'what the hell, let's try a new life Down Under, new places, new people, new friends and a new life! If it doesn't work out, well then we come back to the UK.' Let me tell you right now, though, that thought has never entered our minds since we have been here, even through some of the lows that we may have had. The high's far out way them all...
All I can say for those of you thinking about making this brave move, and it is a very brave move, is look at what you have and look at what you can have if you come over here, sure it's not all roses, but nothing is, is it? You have to want to live out here for the right reasons, for the Montoyas it was purely a better, safer place to raise our children and enjoy the slower pace of life, after all you only have the one!
Until next time, if there is anything we can help or advise you with please email us - we are only too happy to help.
Enjoy your spring weather; we are certainly enjoying our autumn weather which I wouldn't swap with your spring!
Montoya's Down Under