Corkonians Abroad: Life in Sydney... we've lots of adventures planned

How did you end up making the move to Australia?

My girlfriend and myself moved to Australia in October of 2023, after a good few months of trying to rent a house/apartment in Cork with no luck, and just wanting a change of scenery too while we knew we weren’t getting any younger.

At the time, we had my cousin living out there and a few people we knew so we were lucky in that aspect, they made the move easier.

What is life like in your new home?

Life for me consists of working Monday to Friday and we spend a lot of weeknights down at the local beaches and pools as a great way to finish off the day feeling fresh with a swim. The culture of going swimming at sunrise or sunset is one of the best parts of life over here.

I also took up CrossFit over here as a way to exercise and keep fit. It’s a very active and fit lifestyle, obviously the weather makes this easier too.

Weekends are mostly spent getting a local coffee, walking, going to markets, and meeting our new friends we have made over here by the beach.

After the stress of the first few months getting an apartment, finding work and buying a car, it’s great to be able to relax and enjoy it.

What has been the biggest challenge?

In my experience, and from what I see with others, the first few months can be really stressful, getting full time work, getting an apartment you’re happy with, and just getting settled can be tough.

For working holiday visa holders, you also have a six month limitation on your work location, which can cause people a lot of stress to find a new job every six months. I got lucky that I’m working with an Irish company, who do seem to look out for each other, and they all have mostly been through the same experiences so they can offer a lot of advice.

How might you spend your weekends?

My weekends are spent getting outside as much as possible. Whether it’s grabbing a coffee and going walking, or going to markets or even a beer garden with friends. Everything is always outdoors over here, it’s a great aspect.

Tell us a bit about the culture of where

you live?

It’s definitely an extremely active culture. There is always a lot of talk about health and fitness and I feel it’s really pushed on you over here and not so much back home.

There is a run club wherever you live in Sydney and I feel nearly every weekend there is some sort of run or active event you can attend.

Another culture shock is how early they wake. Roads are normally busiest at 6-7am, I feel. They probably try to avoid the baking sun by getting their work-out done in the early morning too.

For younger people also, in the summer there seems to be some sort of festival, concert or party every weekend. This can be good and bad but there is always something to do.

They really do go big, with all the big acts, there is something on all the time, you would never get bored and with the amount of Irish bars, they have events on nearly every night, so you’re never too far from home.

Tell us about your line of work?

Back home, I graduated from CIT (now MTU) with a degree in computer science and worked in a few tech companies around Cork. On moving to Sydney, I found it difficult to get an IT role, as they do not want to invest in someone they might have to let go after six months. The only way around this is to find a sponsorship and this is difficult to get. So after a few weeks of interviews, I got my Rigid truck license and got work the next day. Since then I’ve been driving for an Irish company and working with mostly Irish people from all over Ireland.

We also had to do three months of regional work six hours from Sydney and this then qualified us for our second year visa.

Tell us your thoughts on opportunity - and how a different part of the world might offer more opportunities?

I do feel there is a lot of opportunity over in Australia, and people seem to always go into lots of different types of work than what they’re used to.

Irish people seem to take more risks and put themselves out there a bit more than they would back home, from what I’ve seen. 

I feel back home, people can be a lot more scared to take risks, like starting a business with the fear of being talked about or made a joke of. In Australia, they don’t seem to care who does anything, people seem to just see where things go instead of being scared to change.

What has been your most memorable moment in your new location so far?

We went to a Dermot Kennedy concert, directly in front of the Sydney Opera House, which might have been the best night since I’ve been here. The music, the backdrop and the atmosphere was incredible. A really memorable moment.

Any special mentions to friends or family back in Cork?

When you leave Ireland, you truly find out who your friends are, the ones who make time for calls even with nearly opposite time zones.

I came home for a quick trip in September and I was really appreciative of my close friends Cian, Marie, Gerard, Adam, Cian OD, Darragh, Ewelina and Keith, who made so much time for me.

Again, I’m one of the lucky ones who has an amazing girlfriend in Australia with me, and also one of my best friends Ross, who also moved over in May this year who we’re with every week.

If you were back in Cork for one day, what would be the ideal day for you?

The ideal day for me in Cork, would be going for a stroll down by the Marina with friends in the morning time, and sitting outside Le Chateau on Patrick Street in the afternoon with a pint watching the world go by. You can’t beat it.

What are you looking forward to in the coming months?

We have a lot of plans in the coming months with our friends in Australia and trips booked up the coast.

There are still a lot of places to see, like Perth and the Great Barrier Reef, which we have plans to go see in the summertime.

Is there anything that you especially miss about Cork?

I miss the people, family, friends, and even the people that say hello walking down the street. There is nowhere like it, but we only realise that once we leave and look back how beautiful the place really is.