Getting Settled

November 2019

We've moved before, but I had totally forgotten that feeling of knowing nobody, and consciously wanting to talk to anyone about anything, other than moving to Australia! I am at the point of happily chatting to the lollipop man on the way to school, the physio, the barista in the local coffee shop....you name it I'll chat to them, which if you know me is really not like me! Generally can't cope with mindless chitchat, makes me panic!

I think we've had it pretty easy, everything has gone relatively smoothly, from the minute we stepped off the plane to our container arriving. There have been no huge disasters. That's not to say there haven't been plenty of ups and downs, frustrations and a few tears thrown in.

I can't believe we've been here almost three months, seems like a lifetime ago that we arrived in Perth and ventured down to the beach on that first windy afternoon. I think the first week or so was blurred by jet lag, school tours, house visits and trying to figure out where we wanted to live north or south of the river, and at the time that was the biggest decision as both have very different feels about them. But in the end, and after all the research and evenings spent marking catchment areas on maps, comparing school results and facilities, enrolment numbers etc we haven’t ended up in any of these places.

We’ve gone further north ultimately because we found an affordable small school (rather than a huge High School) that we all loved straight away, it’s by the beach and just felt right. We haven’t got the cafe culture I dreamt of, or the 15 minute cycle into work that Chris hoped for, or the green leafy old original Perth suburbs I’d read all about, but we can walk to school, cycle to the beach, there’s a lovely tennis club round the corner and Martha has joined the Local Surf Life Saving. This is exactly what we wanted, even if it’s not what we originally envisaged.

Someone said to me before we moved, don’t make any big decisions in the first 6-12 months, and don’t be upset if you have to change things a few times to get things right, it will eventually work out. This was possibly the best advice I was given, slow down, relax and just enjoy it without worrying if you’ve made the right decision.