Hi Kelly,
We came out to Oz several times before deciding where to move to. We weren't restricted by jobs (we run our own business) or schools (we don't have kids) so we could just go where we wanted to
We used holidays to travel around Australia for about a month at a time, and only decided where we were moving in February 2007 before moving out here in July 2007. Every where we visited we discussed and rated according to what we were looking for.
For us we needed somewhere that didn't get too cold because my husband has poor circulation, and not somewhere too hot since I don't like it hot. We also wanted somewhere we'd still get some seasons. My husband wanted a small town and I wanted something with theatre and cinemas, so we chose Mount Gambier (also known as the Blue Lake City). For us clubs where we could become part of the community was important for us so I had researched that too.
We did things differently from most other people in that because we'd been out here and bought property as investors, and because we were business owners, we were advised to buy a house before we left the UK since what we could borrow would be valued on our then income in the UK. So in February 2007 we came out here bought a house with a long settlement (completion) so that we wouldn't be paying 2 lots of mortgages. It meant that we only stayed in a hotel for one night when we arrived and then frantically bought beds and other basic stuff so that we could move in the next day. Because it's a smaller city everyone was great and we were able to move in the next day with the basics. Most people stay in hotels and then move into a rental place.
I would not have moved to Australia before seeing it personally since I'm something of a control freak
It also meant that we had our own place even though everything else seemed strange around us. It's not until you live here that you really see the differences in language & culture.
Regards,
Karen