I guess my post was too long & half of it got cut off. Luckily I always copy my text before I post a message. So here's the rest.
We first moved over in May 2007 so most of my chit chat about
Australia is in the first few months, although I do through the odd thing in now and again.
So far we really love Brisbane. I love the climate, I was never fond of the cold so that was never going to be an issue for me. I love that there's so much to do within an hour's drive (Gold Coast & Sunshine Coast). We have passes at the Australia Zoo (Steve Irwin one) and at a Dreamworld/Whitewater World (theme parks on the gold coast). Plus, being so close to the city we can always drive in to different parks and things. Being in Brisbane is also great for travelling. We're trying to see quite a bit while we're here so it's great that a
flight to Cairns is only 2 hours, Sydney 2.5, Melbourne 2.5 I think. Domestic flight here are pretty cheap too (unless it's Perth) so travel isn't so bad. So far I've been to Cairns 3 times and Melbourne once on trips. So next up is probably Perth area? Not sure at the moment.
When we moved over we decided to do something different for a couple of years. We knew it was time to leave Fort McMurray (we just didn't have a life outside work there) so we thought why not go to Australia. We'd never been here before but we though what the heck, we'll just go for a couple of years and then come back.
So we got a permanent visa because we wanted the security and the option of citizenship if we liked it. We arrived under the old 2 year rule, which was definitely appealing because we could stay for 2 years and then leave with citizenship if we wanted. That's still pretty much the plan, although our 2 years now looks like 4 because my husband is getting some big bonuses this year and next. We'd be stupid to leave before he got them. So we'll likely be here until Christmas 2010 now.
I love it here though and I have no issues with staying forever. For me the only downside is that family is so far away. We lived pretty far from family in Canada so we're used to not seeing them. Although we still want to see them at least once a year, and that gets expensive for a family of 4 ($10,000 a year). We keep buying our
flights return from Canada and they're cheaper that way. We actually have half a
return flight booked for August, so pretty soon I'll have to book a new round trip ticket so that we can get back to Oz. If we stayed forever though we could continue to go back every year but only if my husband stayed in his mining job, which he's unlikely to do beyond the next 2 years. So long term it would be tougher not being able to visit family all the time. Also, right now we have parents visiting once a year and that might not happen as often if we were here for good.
Anyway, the plan is still to go back. Not because we don't like it here, but rather because we still really like Canada and were never moving to get away from it. I'm hoping to move to my home town in Ontario, and if we do we can buy a nice house there for relatively cheap and be near my family. Not sure if I can convince my husband of that though.
I should mention that while I love it here my husband would still prefer Canada. Mostly because of the weather. He doesn't mind the warm weather but he really misses the snow and the cooler seasons. So it's definitley more of an adjustment for him.
Anyhow, I must go make breakfast for the kids!
Haley