[Aussie Pom]

Hello All,
Well we have made our decision and sold our house but have decided on Tasmania in the end. We are off to Hobart in January! I have found everyone on the forum so helpful and supportive so thanks for that. I hope everything goes well for those planning the trip.:nice1
I am glad we came for the holiday/recce and would recommend it for anybody who is considering such a huge move, it certainly helped me make a decision. We do have the luxury of being closer but even so it is important to get a bigger picture.
Take care every one, as this site is strangely addictive this may not be the last time you see me, but I felt on only polite to at least say "Au revoir"
Gina :exit

[ourquest]

All the best with your move. You may have posted your reasons previously (I am quite new to this forum) but I would be interested to know what sealed the decision for you?

[Moorf]

Congrats on making the big decision :nice1 - would be great to hear about Tazzy when you get there. Hope your move goes well and best of luck,
Moorf

[Aussie Pom]

This is a reply for "OurQuest', and anyone else who might be interested but I don't know how to do the quote thing.
I did post a bit of an explanation after our "recce" in October but I can't remember where to.
The reasons are many and varied. At present we live in Perth, I came over around 13 years ago having previously met my husband while on Teacher exchange...which I can thoroughly recommend if you want an insight into a place. He is also from the UK but did not wish to return.

Part of our reason for us deciding to leave Perth has been due to the fact that we have been noticing that the climate change (however it is caused, not going into that issue today!!!!) is affecting WA and a lot of the water supplies in mainland Australia and we have concerns about this for the future, cost of fruit and veg, wheat etc just some of the knock on issues. When we then started to consider where we could go to minimise the effect that it could have on us, we came up with Tasmania and NZ South island as we could afford a bigger block so hopefully be more self sufficient and because these communities also have local industries which allow them to be more self sufficient too.
We have also thought about moving somewhere more "hiking" friendly for quite a while but have never done it, so considering the age of our daughters, 5 and 8, we felt this might also be a good time to make the move while they are still young.

After our visit to NZ we decided that Christchurch would have been suitable but as my daughter is asthmatic (she was affected as soon as we got off the plane virtually) she would be unable to live there unless we went to the outskirts which could leave us with a lot of commuting and in some ways defeating the purpose.
Our other choice was Nelson. My husband did feel Nelson was suitable, but I had concerns about its isolation. It was a lovely friendly town and had great surrounds but it "didn't float my boat" as someone else said. I also felt that it may not have the variety of opportunities for higher education and employment (my daughters are young but I was looking to the future too). My husband felt they could leave home to go to Uni if they wanted too but I felt that they shouldn't have to if they didn't want to.

I was also surprised at how much I noticed the differences in cultures. Having lived in Oz for 13 years I still consider myself to be "English" in many ways but considering a move to NZ made me realise how attached or Aussicised I had become. I feel we have invested a lot of time and energy etc into Australia and so are not quite ready to give it all up yet. Having said that as a teacher it will almost as difficult to register to teach in Tassie as in NZ, as everything is State based. At least I shall know something about the history etc that I will need to teach. I also have 2 post grad qualifications that are from Aussie universities so they should be more readily recognised. For the girls it will also be less of a change in their education.

So we are off to Tasmania, we are going to drive over to Melbourne and then get on the ferry, so we will have a adventures on the way.

I think that just about covers it, sorry it is so long!
Gina

[Lupin]

Oh Gina, I am jealous in an odd sort of way (as I'm happy here too!) :)

Wish you a wonderful life in Tassie; you've chosen wisely I am sure :cheers

[Aussie Pom]

Thanks for your thoughts Lupin.
Just yesterday we were looking at our holiday photos from NZ and we had a great time. A flicker of doubt just goes through!!!! I am sure that Tassie will be great, I am sure NZ would be great too. Ultimately you get what you put in too. At least we won't left wondering!!!! I shall keep you all informed in case anyone wants to jump ship!
:laugh
Gina

[Debbie P.]

Congratulations Gina! Tasmania looks absolutely wonderful and I'm sure you're making the right decision for you. :nice1 And exciting to have an adventurous journey there too.

All the best.

[katandbob]

A guy I work with spent time in Tassie - said it is a beautiful place to live, and he said it was his fav out of NZ and Aus, hes Swiss BTW.

hope everything works out for you

Kat

[rowells]

Gina,
Please ignore my ignorance but why did Cch affect your daughters asthma?

[James 1077]

Gina,
Please ignore my ignorance but why did Cch affect your daughters asthma?

Cch can have a bit of a smog problem due to all of the wood burners heating the houses. A good wind clears it out but if it hasn't blown for a while then it can be smoggy (although normally smells quite nice!).

[gil]

Oooh, how exciting for you Gina! All the very best, and do pop in and keep us up to date!

Love
Gil
x