Moving to Australia with nothing.

[mumwhatnothing]

We will be moving there with nothing, no furniture, nowhere to live. DH knows people( he is Australian). I am bloody terrified. We will have money to start up and get everything we need but I keep thinking something will go wrong and we will be on the street with 2 dcs.

Also generally terrified but super excited to be moving. Can anyone tell me what it's like there in real life and is it worth it.

Whereabouts are you going? I've never been but got lots of friends there

We are going to Townsville in Queensland. I am making friends with his friends via facebook. The visa will be granted in a couple of weeks and looks like I actually have to put my money where my mouth is and go there. I am so scared I won't like it or that something awful will happen and I won't have my family to help etc.

The place looks nice and jobs and rental properties not too bad.

Am I normal to worry so much?

Have you never even been there for a holiday?

Of course you are normal.

I moved only 80 miles away from home and felt the same.

I have spent a few months in Oz - great country - bloody hot - great people and if your Dh is an Aussie it will be even easier for you to make the transistion.

Stop worrying and start getting excited - I once moved to another country with £7.50 in my pocket. Nothing to it!

Nope, never been for a holiday. Met him, fell inlove, had a baby, got married. Didn't have time for a visit.

I am trying really hard not to worry but I am a worrier. Bizarrely I am also an optimist, so I worry one minute then incredibly positive the next. Sure it'll be great.

I am sure I'll love it but at times it seems so daunting. It is miles away.

Don't forget your sun screen matey and you will be away and done and dusted

Good luck and adios

[Keep in touch with us MNs though if you need a helping hand]

Oo, what fun!

We moved to Sydney with no furniture and only a few boxes of personal stuff.

Townsville itself is a nice place - it has been very developed over the past few years and now is vastly improved. I visited 17 years ago and it was one street, but the mining boom has pumped money into the region and Townsville has been earmarked as a "Capital of the North".

So good choice!

Magnetic Island is about 20 minutes by ferry and is very nice. Inland from there is beautiful (my Aunt and Uncle have lived on a mango farm there for about 28 years). It's very tropical, lush, the national parks around there are really nice.

Townsville itself now has lots of restaurants, decent shops (for Australia), and has a nice harbour. It's an interesting place as its whole wealth is based around mining and defence, so it's quite a "manly" place with basically all "new money" which means that there are casinos and plenty of places to relieve miners of their hard earned cash.

Plus you're not far from other lovely places like the Whitsundays, Port Douglas, Daintree.

Weather is really nice. You get a proper rainy season (aunt and uncle get rained in every year, but know when it's going to happen) but at the moment, in the midst of winter, it's about 27 degrees. Lovely.

You will be absolutely fine. Everything here will seem oddly familiar to you - I don't know if you've seen that Gryff Rhys-Jones series about cities, but describing Australia as "Britain through the looking glass" was very apt.

I know it is scary, though. I can still vividly remember arriving in Hong Kong with one suitcase, 300 quid, no job offer, not knowing a soul there or a word of the language, and thinking holy fucking mother of god, what am I doing?

I left seven years later with more dear friends than I could count, a great career, and a husband.

Nothing awful will happen to you. You will miss your family but Skype is a treasure for expats.

As to filling a house - charity shops and places like Kmart and BigW are your friends. They are really reasonable. I moved to the UK with a couple of suitcases. Left four years later with fab friends, husband, dd1 and dd2 on the way. I found a place to live and furnish it etc quite easily.

Not sure how old your children are - but you could join playgroups to touch base with other mums. Townsville is also an army town - huge army base - so ppl will be used to transients and new people moving in and out so there will probably be lots of opportunities to make friends etc.

As a antipodean who moved to the UK my tip would be to give yourself loads of time to adjust, even though it will seem strangely familiar it isnt home and it is very likely you'll get homesick. That is totally understandable but try not to dwell on the frustrating / negative parts of Aussie life or look back at the UK with rose coloured glasses. The homesickness will ease and regular life will take over (much quicker with 2 little people I imagine!) and in around 6 to 12mths you should be feeling much better. You might feel at home right away but dont get in a funk if you dont as it might put you in a downward spiral, just go for a swim, throw another shrimp on the barbie ;-) or arrange a short break to the Whitsundays - its incredibly beautiful there!

From a practical point of view, having no stuff / no where to live isnt a biggie. As long as you have somewhere to stay where you will be welcome for a decent amount of time or can arrange a short term lease / apartment then it will be a blast setting up home again.

Personally I would give any experience like this a good couple of years before making any decisions about returning. I've seen so many people freak out after 3 mths but that is just silly, give all the family the chance to live the Aussie life for a while before you make up your mind.

Thats just my 2p worth anyhow... best of luck with your new adventure, I'm soooo jealous of all that sunshine your gonna have!!

Thanks everyone. I have regular meltdowns of sheer terror at what we are planning on doing. Then, I have days like the whole of this week, when it all can't come fast enough for me and I can't wait to get stuck in. I am sure I will ahve many more ups and downs but, bring it on. I am ready for anything.