Expat Experiences: Australia - Sarah Husselmann, Sydney

Who are you?

I’m Sarah Husselmann, a British freelance writer, who moved from London to Sydney in January 2010. I relocated with my husband and two preschool children. Whilst settling the children into their new home, I’ve created a blog and website providing help for mums moving to Australia Mum’s gone 2 Aus. I’ve been thrilled with the following it’s received and I’m happy to be helping families from all over the world with their relocation or visit to Australia.


Where, when and why did you move abroad?

Our decision to move to Australia took some time. My husband and I obtained permanent residency shortly after getting married but I got cold feet and didn’t want to leave the UK. I was concerned about missing my family.

We had our children in London and as they got older felt we wanted to offer them a more outdoor lifestyle. We also didn’t want to keep wondering about Australia, and look back in years to come and wish we’d made the move.


What challenges did you face during the move?

We moved to Australia with two children, no jobs, and little support in Australia (we didn’t know many people). We arrived in January, which we now believe isn’t the best time. We don’t think businesses get back to normal until February, after the Christmas break and long school holidays.

My husband was immediately looking for work and...
Read more about Sarah's life in Sydney www.expatfocus.com/expatriate-australia-sydney-sarah-husselmann

Household Clearances in the Sydney Suburbs

by Lesley Snell of Northern Beaches Know-How

Every six months or so somewhere in a Sydney suburb a "Household Clearance" day is happening...

On this day households are allowed to pile their grass verges (called nature strips here) with all manner of rubbish. Some households will only put out a small neat pile while others will spend the whole day trailing up and down their driveways piling up their verge until little or no grass can be seen! I actually love "chuck out" day - I take the dog on a long meandering walk and casually mooch around to see what I can find. I am currently looking for an old hanging chandelier which I can covert into a tasteful outdoor tealight holder (as seen in the "Home and Garden" Magazine March issue) but no luck so far...

Seems like I am not the only one to relish this special day ...Streets are suddenly filled with white vans trawling up and down looking for aluminum items and electrical wire that can be sold and recycled. Others are looking for old bikes to repair and the gardeners come out to salvage old pots and useful pieces of fencing.

This day also seems to bring out hoards of local kids (mine included) who will spend the day playing with old broken toys, riding down the driveways on old office chairs and making racing carts from old bits of wood.

Yes chuck out is somewhat of an event in my neighborhood!! They say you can tell a lot from what people throw out...so here are my top ten items that I ALWAYS see in the rubbish piles...

Old barbecues
Outdoor furniture (broken and well used)
Surfboards and bodyboards (damaged)
Pool toys (noodles etc)
Kids bikes
Laundry baskets
Suitcases
Broken fans
Twisted wine racks.
Plasma TV boxes (great for watching sport)

Northern Beaches Lifestyle in a nutshell !!!!!!!

Meanwhile I will keep looking for my chandelier...

Lesley runs a relocation service on the Northern Beaches in Sydney. Helping families locate the schools and services they need.

Email: lesley@northernbeachesknow-how.com.au
Website: www.northernbeachesknow-how.com.au
Facebook: www.facebook.com/northernbeaches