House Swap

So here it is. Despite Lucy only having been in the country for a month, recently we have been giving some serious consideration to doing a little more travel come this September and essentially swapping this:

 

(the spectacular harbour views of Sydney)

For this:

(the grimy Tinsley cooling towers of Sheffield, looking unusually attractive in this picture):

Madness, you may cry. Thousands of Brits every year flock to the sunny coasts of Australia, and yet more sit in rainy Yorkshire longing for that supposed laid back easy lifestyle.

We have our reasons, both personal and professional as to why we think it may be time to leave in a few months (once we have some cash).

Professionally, Lucy has to get herself a good education job, to get experience for the course she hopes to start in September 09 and it may prove a little difficult over here due to qualification requirements.

For myself the job I have got is far from perfect, and if I was to stay in Sydney, I would certainly move on to another company. I also have a few job offers in the UK.

But our reasons for thinking about leaving extend beyond the merely practical - I also have to admit to struggling with the Australian way of doing things that I have experienced. The emphasis in engineering consulting here seems to be to heavily dominated by generating written outputs. Personally,  I am used to working with people and numbers. Without going into what I do for a living, I like to focus on the development and implementation of projects and struggle somewhat when faced with Australian decision making processes which seem to take so long. Processes which cause me a fair amount of professional frustration.

Whilst appreciating that this may be my own experience only, there are a large number of (both American and European) expats here who constantly bemoan the same thing. 

In terms of Sydney, it is absolutely the most beautiful city I have been to as I have said before. The harbour is amazing and in the summer sunshine, there is nothing better than BBQ's and lounging around at Shelly beach.

Only summer draws to an end here, and the evenings draw short (it gets dark around 4.30pm at the moment). The weather is not cold, but not warm.

When you take away the warm weather and sun from Sydney you are left with very much a hard working business city. Strict licensing laws seem to have led to a lack of independent pubs, bars and cafe's (of the type you may associate with Melbourne). 

Not that I am complaining. I have had some brilliant experiences and to be able to have to opportunity to come here in the first place is a privilege. Nothing is set in stone, but I think we will spend the next few months trying to see as much of Oz as possible before any potential return.