fizzybangs

Sounds to me like you want to finish the relationship or this would not be a problem for you but have a small doubt so are saying 6 months. I would hate to be apart from my other half for 6 months. End the relationship and move forward. You have made your decision to return but don't stuff him around. If you end it, he can save a heap of money and get on with his life here instead of going back and then you ending it.

You need a re-entry visa for your British passport then no hassles. Won't get back in without one. No good relying on citizenship papers. I know, been there and done that and with previous married name in passport! Name did not matter, just re-entry visa.

After a very long time in Oz the sun now drives me insane! In Tassie this summer to avoid the summer storms and humidity in SE Qld. Just could not take it any longer. However, a year back in UK from Spring to Spring returning last year I loved the variations in the weather and the 'polite' UK rain. I never feared being flooded either, nor giant hail stones nor the violent electrical storms. Loved having seasons again and could always go out walking whatever the weather.

I have been here since 1981, with a nine month plus a one year trip back. I have rarely read such a great post. You have hit the nail on the head with everything. It is not going to change, in fact it has got a lot worse since I arrived. We are going home for good soon!

My brother and wife always did most of their shopping in M & S but tried some meat at Aldis in Hereford and were blown away by how good it was. They get most things from there now and rave about quality of fruit and vegetables. A lot of people are changing which is why Tesco is suffering so bad. When we were back there for a year we found certain things we liked in different stores and bulk purchased those items when there. Aldi 70% chocolate so cheap, Morrisons lattice pork pies likewise, Tesco for triple chocolate puddings out of the freezer section, Asda for non perfumed clothes washing liquid etc. We used all of them!

Oh I love your last sentence! Pinching it LOL

Electricity costs are dear in both countries, food is better and cheaper in UK, petrol is higher. Overall bringing wages into consideration, not much difference at all. As for average price of lamb being around $15 in Devonport, I fell off my chair as I am in Launceston and go to Longford where they have the abattoir shop and it is dearer than that! The UK has had more sunny days this winter since - can't recall, was it 1948 I saw in the news? You do have to notice it though and if desperate to come back here you may not be noticing the good about UK. After 32 years we went back for a year, returning last April. The heat at Sunshine Coast Qld was horrible in winter so we moved to Tassie for summer! We are about to move back again to Qld - Australian state ping pongers! Devon was amazing when we were back there. I loved the seasons, the variety of food shops and associated cheap prices, we could afford to eat out a lot more but we can't here. Travelling was so easy over long distances although shorter distances took a lot longer as so much attracted us we kept stopping! The UK is alive. The news is abysmal! Enough to depress the best of us so don't watch it! You can catch up on line so easily. Which reminds me - telecommunication costs are so low in the UK! Amazingly cheap, staggered us. I love both countries, there is room in my heart for both. I would prefer to live in the UK though despite my having 3 children here.

This is not correct. Suggest you do your own research but you have to have lived here for 10 years and be here when you apply. You can apply from many countries (can from Dublin too if you live there) but not the UK. You also have to have lived here (been domicile) for the full year before applying to make it portable. If you arrive later, you must be here for 2 years after getting it for it to be portable. Obviously, the amount you get is worked out on how many years you have lived here. I will have lived here for a full 34 years when I get mine this year so will get 34/35ths of the age pension

Nobody has made me feel guilty! I also do not need to 'water' my relationships with my family in the UK. That is the point of my regrets actually, they fill me with love and hugs and I wish I hadn't removed my children from their wonderful, loving embrace. My daughter who has been back several times, even to work there cannot get over how big the family is and how she is immediately accepted as part of each family. No fanfare, just that we belong. First time I saw my niece in her Mum's kitchen after 30 years she just said 'Hi, here' and chucked me the tea towel! I dried the dishes after she washed them and when finished we hugged. I was instantly 'in' the family. They are awesome. Last time we were in London when my nephew needed help so we were contacted and dropped everything to go and help. They never treat me like a visitor or mention the fact Inhave been away for 32 years! As for wanting someone to be proud of me and my adventures and accomplishments? It is my deceased father! He is with me always and know he is proud of how I overcame abject poverty in Oz after arrival, being in a refuge with nothing and now enjoying a lure even gevwould envy. My kids are stuck here but once their very invalid father has passed away who knows. I am going 'home' and maybe they will too. Life is an adventure and I refuse to age gracefully nor stop moving to where I am happiest.

what is achievement though? I would have once thought of jobs, education, financial, health etc. Don't we all have someone who we want to make proud of us? My thoughts have changed over the last few years. No price on family connections because when we are gone the kids family connections will be their kids and cousins and their kids. It would be better had they been part of 'the family'. They always envied other families meeting up with relatives at Christmas and other important events. Back in UK they have nearly 100 incredibly loving family members and even though two have met some of the family now, there is my deceased brother's family of 18 odd, four generations who none of them have met. Just my personal thoughts. We have done a lot sure. the only way to liken the feeling I have when wishing family connections for my children is that it is similar to that stomach gut feeling you have when homesick for your own country. It is a heart and gut feeling that cannot really be explained. Having several houses or having travelled widely is no longer what it id all about for me. It is the feeling of belonging.

I would disagree that food costs are comparible. We were there last year and my OH said I was messing up his budgets and when I asked why, he said I wasn't spending enough on food! We were shopping in Sainsbury's, Tesco and Morrisons but my brother who always bought everything from M & S has tried out Lidls or Aldi and says he is stunned at quality of meat and food bills have dropped dramatically so seems we can buy even cheaper if we switch when we go back. We also ate out far more than we do here in Oz and I was horrified when we came back to live at Cotton Tree, Maroochydore. The prices to eat out here are crazy high. Our BT phone cost £18 per month which included free calls within the UK anytime! Internet was silly cheap too and truly unlimited and fast. Here I am paying $111 per month and never watch videos or I run out if allowance and it then slows down so much that it is unusable. I think you will be delighted if you work from your Oz budget!

Good heavens, you will have more than enough unless renting in London! Food will cost half to start with and telecommunications are so much cheaper. You could afford private heslth, private schools and holidays with that combined income.

Try Kent at Wacol. Brilliant and the guy that runs it us a Pom! Cheapest quote we have ever had, efficient, extremely helpful. I emailed him once on a Sunday night expecting an answer during office hours on Monday and got immediate reply back and ut was after 9.30pm! They also used a removal company in Devon that has all the certifications available so excellent company that end too which us really important. Used Letton Percival for shipping insurance like rveryone ekse does on here. Great company and so much cheaper than any shipping removalists.

Well they told me on the phone that I'd be on wife pension but not really better off because if something happens to my OH and he is quite a bit older than me, I will only get 60th on my widow's pension of what I get now. They told me outright that it will not be counted as I was married to previous OH then and he gets his own UK pension in Oz. So my years married to him don't count!

Returning from Tasmania in April after fabulous 6 months out of the heat, to Brisbane or Gold Coast for as short a time as possible then back on the plane to UK. I found out after 32 years that I missed the UK just too much deep down and think now that I was consumed by just making a living with 3 kids to bring up in Oz. Had the house, investment properties, did the four year tour of Australia once retired early. Deep down UK is home which was a shock! Perhaps it is there underneath all along, hidden. Spent a year back in Devon returning last April to Sunsine Coast near my daughter then the 6 months here in beautiful Tasmania where, incidentally, unemployment is continually dropping! Have to go 'home' where my heart is. I have enjoyed one heck of a long holiday and dep down perhaps I knew it was just that. Wish I had never bought my kids up here though and they too have deep regrets at not knowing extended family. Two of them have met some of them. One has been back a few times and is now unsettled. Wish I had stayed put to start with!