Sadie and Ferdi Covati,
Chef
Chef
Having spent many holidays in Queensland, moving from the UK to Australia was a natural step for Sadie and Ferdi Covati.
"We have holidayed in Australia many times and always ended up back in Queensland - even when we flew into Perth," says Sadie. "We just liked the relaxed and chilled out way of life here."
In Britain the couple had their own businesses. Sadie had a corporate uniform company and Ferdi worked as a chef, running his own restaurant - both the businesses were in Leicestershire.
Sadie, 43 when she moved to Australia, now works in real estate, having obtained her licence. Ferdie, 44 when he emigrated, has given up a life in catering. He completed a 10-week course in carpentry and now works part time at a cabinet-making firm. To keep himself busy he also works for himself as a handyman carrying out general repairs to properties in the local area.
"It took us both a few months to settle in and find our place job wise," says Sadie. "You have to be on the look out all the time and just keep going until the right job comes along. “We settled down her in around 16 months. We rented a house to start with until we found a house we liked – we bought it about six months after we arrived. It was a good feeling after renting for a couple of years, having also rented in the UK before moving into a rental in Queensland."
"I made an effort to get to know people and joined a ladies business group in Eumundi, which is a very close knit country town and it really was plain sailing from there," says Sadie. "I pretty much know most of the locals now." Sadie describes herself as an outgoing person and that, she says, has helped her network, make friends and settle. "Once you are working that gets you another circle of friends," she says.
Ferdi uses his spare time to go to the footy with his workmates and Sadie enjoys doing lunch "with the girls" and going to the cinema. "It’s very reasonable to eat out here too so we may go out with friends to dinner quite often," she says. "We have lots of Aussie friends that come to our house for drinks or dinner or we go to theirs."
"Life is good here - good weather, good beaches, good wine and a great circle of friends. Really you can mix with people as much or as little as you want to. It's just making the effort in the first place."
There are no children in the Covati household, but their dogs enjoy running around on the acre of land the couple’s luxury home sits on. "We back onto the bush. It’s very quiet, old fashioned living - just 15 minutes from the modern world of Noosa," says Sadie.
While she has no regrets about leaving Britain, Sadie says leaving their families behind caused her a lot of concern. "Our biggest concern was leaving our families, it’s all very sad but you are also excited about starting your new life, so you feel pulled both ways," she says. "I look at it like this - the UK is just 24 hours away. You feel guilty for leaving, but in your heart you know that your family wants what makes you happy. You are only here once; life’s not a dress rehearsal so if you want something you have to go for it."
And if she were to move to another country again, what would she do differently?
"I don’t think there would be anything I would do differently. The only advice I could give would be to visit the country first," says Sadie. "We made sure we knew as much as possible [about Australia] so by the time we arrived here we had read every book there was on life here. There really were no surprises - we perhaps knew more than the Australians did."
Sadie says their migration consultant at ‘The Emigration Group’ in Chester helped them to get full Permanent Residence Visas by using Ferdi’s skills as a chef. "The process took a while, but the company’s staff are always on hand and very helpful. Even when things are tense - while you are waiting for all the paperwork and getting stressed out - the company smoothes things over and acts as a kind of mediator," says Sadie.
"We would not be here without them. They kept calm and positive, which is what you need - someone to hold your hand."
And now the couple and their two dogs, brought with them from the UK, are all settled, has it all been worth it?
"The changes for us are mainly no stress and good healthy outdoor living," says Sadie. "Somehow when the sun’s out you feel happier. Wine is cheap, we have made great friends and we lead a very happy life. What more can we ask than that?"
"It took two years for it all to fit into place so you must give yourself time to settle in and get on with your new life here."
And their first Christmas in sun drenched Queensland?
"We went camping during our first Christmas here and it rained and rained while being hot and sticky," laughs Sadie. "But the following year we went to a fellow Pom’s house - there were 20 of us and we had a great time."
"It will never be the same as Christmas in the UK but you can always holiday there at that time of year if you really miss wet freezing winters that much!"
"We have holidayed in Australia many times and always ended up back in Queensland - even when we flew into Perth," says Sadie. "We just liked the relaxed and chilled out way of life here."
In Britain the couple had their own businesses. Sadie had a corporate uniform company and Ferdi worked as a chef, running his own restaurant - both the businesses were in Leicestershire.
Sadie, 43 when she moved to Australia, now works in real estate, having obtained her licence. Ferdie, 44 when he emigrated, has given up a life in catering. He completed a 10-week course in carpentry and now works part time at a cabinet-making firm. To keep himself busy he also works for himself as a handyman carrying out general repairs to properties in the local area.
"It took us both a few months to settle in and find our place job wise," says Sadie. "You have to be on the look out all the time and just keep going until the right job comes along. “We settled down her in around 16 months. We rented a house to start with until we found a house we liked – we bought it about six months after we arrived. It was a good feeling after renting for a couple of years, having also rented in the UK before moving into a rental in Queensland."
"I made an effort to get to know people and joined a ladies business group in Eumundi, which is a very close knit country town and it really was plain sailing from there," says Sadie. "I pretty much know most of the locals now." Sadie describes herself as an outgoing person and that, she says, has helped her network, make friends and settle. "Once you are working that gets you another circle of friends," she says.
Ferdi uses his spare time to go to the footy with his workmates and Sadie enjoys doing lunch "with the girls" and going to the cinema. "It’s very reasonable to eat out here too so we may go out with friends to dinner quite often," she says. "We have lots of Aussie friends that come to our house for drinks or dinner or we go to theirs."
"Life is good here - good weather, good beaches, good wine and a great circle of friends. Really you can mix with people as much or as little as you want to. It's just making the effort in the first place."
There are no children in the Covati household, but their dogs enjoy running around on the acre of land the couple’s luxury home sits on. "We back onto the bush. It’s very quiet, old fashioned living - just 15 minutes from the modern world of Noosa," says Sadie.
While she has no regrets about leaving Britain, Sadie says leaving their families behind caused her a lot of concern. "Our biggest concern was leaving our families, it’s all very sad but you are also excited about starting your new life, so you feel pulled both ways," she says. "I look at it like this - the UK is just 24 hours away. You feel guilty for leaving, but in your heart you know that your family wants what makes you happy. You are only here once; life’s not a dress rehearsal so if you want something you have to go for it."
And if she were to move to another country again, what would she do differently?
"I don’t think there would be anything I would do differently. The only advice I could give would be to visit the country first," says Sadie. "We made sure we knew as much as possible [about Australia] so by the time we arrived here we had read every book there was on life here. There really were no surprises - we perhaps knew more than the Australians did."
Sadie says their migration consultant at ‘The Emigration Group’ in Chester helped them to get full Permanent Residence Visas by using Ferdi’s skills as a chef. "The process took a while, but the company’s staff are always on hand and very helpful. Even when things are tense - while you are waiting for all the paperwork and getting stressed out - the company smoothes things over and acts as a kind of mediator," says Sadie.
"We would not be here without them. They kept calm and positive, which is what you need - someone to hold your hand."
And now the couple and their two dogs, brought with them from the UK, are all settled, has it all been worth it?
"The changes for us are mainly no stress and good healthy outdoor living," says Sadie. "Somehow when the sun’s out you feel happier. Wine is cheap, we have made great friends and we lead a very happy life. What more can we ask than that?"
"It took two years for it all to fit into place so you must give yourself time to settle in and get on with your new life here."
And their first Christmas in sun drenched Queensland?
"We went camping during our first Christmas here and it rained and rained while being hot and sticky," laughs Sadie. "But the following year we went to a fellow Pom’s house - there were 20 of us and we had a great time."
"It will never be the same as Christmas in the UK but you can always holiday there at that time of year if you really miss wet freezing winters that much!"
