People & Places
Montoya's Australia blog March 07
In this month's Australian blog, the Montoyas describe what has been a busy period for them, as they settle into their new home in the Gold Coast area
G'Day, again from the Montoyas DownUnder!
Well, what has happened in the last four to six weeks?
For those of you following our story, we have now left Kellyville (Sydney) and are enjoying life in Oxenford (Gold Coast). We are five minutes from Wet n Wild, DreamWorld, Movie World, etcetera. The kids love it, of course.
So, why did we move? We just found that looking to get on the housing market at some point was just going to be impossible in Sydney if we really wanted to stay in the lovely area we were in.
A job offer came from a company based throughout Australia, looking for someone to fit into their Brisbane location. Coincidence? Fate? To cut a long story short, I accepted and the move began. It was a touch of deja vu, as only 16 months ago we left Ole Blighty! Here we are, having moved and unsettled the whole family again - that includes the four kids!
So, was I making the right move? After settling very well in Kellyville with my family and making some real Aussie friends that will be friends for life now, the question was: should we move? Life was good, my job was ideal, the kids were at great schools, we had fantastic neighbours, etcetera. In fact, why was I thinking of moving? Was I mad?
The Move
We got ourselves another good moving company based five minutes from where we lived. They were very good with the move, although we did have a couple of breakages - something we never got moving from the other side of the world!
The house was a job-and-a-half to secure; rental properties in Gold Coast are hard to get your hands on, there are at least five applications per house up for rent each time. We secured a place third time lucky, which was a relief as I had started my job early and stayed with friends in the Gold Coast whilst driving / flying back and forth to NSW, some 800 kilometres away! This went on for four weeks.
Our friends, Tony, Sheryl and family, arrived from the UK in Sydney at the same time as us and we met together through a British expats site. They then relocated to the Gold Coast through work three months before us, now we live ten minutes from each other again. It's strange how life pans out. It has been great to get together again, and compare places/states.
Our other very good friends from the UK in Sydney, Mark, Claire and family are now left behind in Sydney. We only got to know these friends in the last few months and have connected really well; it was very emotional leaving them all. However, I have been warned, it's our place for Xmas this year!
It seems that all our Australian and UK friends are coming here for visits, and why not, it's amazing! Even more so than NSW, we believe. Sorry Sydney!
It is warmer, believe it or not, and more humid. You must have air conditioning. It's a beach holiday lifestyle as opposed to a city style. We use our boat more now, it's a must up here as water is everywhere, we even live next to a lake - oh how I love fishing! We are just five minutes from boat ramps now as opposed to 40 minutes plus like we were in NSW.
The beach is only 15 mins from our doorstep (Labrador, Main Beach and Surfers Paradise). It truly is amazing. We go there midweek after work for an hour or so! Kids love it.
So our story/journey continues. The one thing we all agree on, life is great here, hard at times and trying but great! Do we miss England…NO!! Just the family and friends, of which my sister and nieces arrive in April - our first family visitors!
On a quick note, after two weeks of being in the Gold Coast, we had our usual family meeting. Anyone missing home? Yes the kids say. Oh no, I thought. I asked why, then it came, we all miss our old school teachers and friends in Sydney! I meant home as in the UK, but not one person related home as Britain, it was Sydney. How weird was that?
Still, now, 2 months down the line in the beautiful Gold Coast, things are truly great again, yet more friends and more places to see.
Tune in next month…'cos there's plenty more!
Montoya's DownUnder
PS. Keep those emails coming, I really am happy to answer your questions, as a lot of you already know. After all, we are still Poms!
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