Kapri

I love spiders and I'm not frightened by them at all. I think Aussie spiders are fascinating. We've had a couple of red backs, several white tails and a few huntsmen. We have lots of orb weavers and St. Andrew's Cross spiders outside. I got bitten by a wolf spider over summer. He was just defending himself (I didn't see him) but I didn't have a reaction so no ill effects.

What a ridiculously biased article! I laughed and laughed when it got to the bit overtly praising Michael Gove. There will certainly be some terrible schools and unruly behaviour throughout the UK, but it's not the norm.

There was a handwritten thank you note, which to me says he knew very well he had received it. If it had been a generic, secretary produced note he may have been slightly more believable.

We used Doree bonner to pack in UK and Grace delivered in Aus. No problems at all. They were very helpful.

A similar thing thing happened to us. I think it's a coping mechanism on their part and we dealt with it by ignoring it! We kept arranging nights out and then threw a party before we left. Most people came to it

I got 75% I think this is an extremely hard test for people who didn't grow up leaning about British history. Edit to say: if a book is provided prior to the test then I would study it for weeks before and make sure I knew the answers!

I went to a housing commission street recently to see a patient and the middle house was burnt out.

Worry not! There are plenty of pharmacy's and department stores that sell all the usual make up brands. I use Priceline pharmacy to buy high street brands such as Almay / L'oreal / Maybelline and David Jones or Myer for brands such as Lancôme or Clinique. The only brand not readily available is Boots No 7 but some pharmacy's are now stockng protect and perfect (it's called something different though). There are beauty salons everywhere that do all the usual treatments.

It's amazing how people acclimatize - whichever way they go. I've just arrived back in the UK and although I appreciate the weather is warm for March, I don't have the same feel good feeling as everyone else because it was 30 degrees and sunny when I left Australia! To to be fair though, I'm right up in Leeds at the moment and it looks a lot better down south.

The guidelines are fairly clear on the Anmac website. For mine, I drafted it and my manager tweaked it. It's a professional reference, stating what your job involved, not a personal reference (how good you were at it) so most people would be happy for you to do this, I expect.

There are some things I prefer about the UK and some things I prefer about Aus. The weather is definitely one of the things I love about Aus. Where I live is considered to have the best climate in Australia so maybe that makes a difference. There have been some very hot days but only once have I felt it was too hot to be outside. I see far more blue sky here than I ever did in the UK. Even in winter in the UK we would go out for walks but my ears got so painful in the cold, even with a hat or earmuffs on. Here in Aus, we have been dining al fresco for the past 5 months and even in winter we went to people's houses and stayed outside all evening. We just wore jackets and had a wood burner.

Ignore him. My mum was upset when I left although she gave me her blessing. we still chat on the phone every week and it doesn't feel much different. She has just had a heart attack and I'm heading back to see her. Once she recovers, I will pay for her to come here for a few months. It may not be as bad as you are expecting

I live in this area and there are lots of great things to do. All of the beaches are fab from Nelson bay right down through Newcastle. As N1ck says, check out the bogey hole. You can take your toddler to Blackbutt reserve, it's free and he will see kangaroos, koalas and wombats. You can do a dolphin cruise and sandboarding (great fun) from Nelson's bay. the Hunter valley wineries is a great day out (although maybe not with a toddler!). Speers point park by Lake Macquarie is great for kids. Huge play area, cafe, views etc.

I've read this thread with interest. I think weather is such a subjective thing but personally I love the weather here. I'm in Newcastle too and we have lots of blue skies and warm days. We sit outside in the evening, go out for walks at weekends and do 90% of our socialising outside. It's not perfect here in Australia ( I see a LOT of obese people for example) but I do think the weather in this part of NSW is hard to beat.

It's different for everyone I guess but my work here is much better. I love the NHS and all it stands for, but it's being run into the ground. It makes me sad but working as a nurse was becoming more and more stressful in the U.K. I'm far less stressed at work here. That is personal to me of course. It won't be the same for everyone.

OP if you can afford to go back to the UK then do it! I think you need to see if life will be better with family around. To those who say the weather is just as restricting in Australia. I totally disagree. I love the sunshine here, it's one of the main reasons I moved and we are out every weekend. We didn't let the weather restrict us too much in the UK - we loved getting out even in winter. But it often involved getting very wrapped up and I could often only stand the cold for an hour tops. Education - the OECD says that overall, education is slightly better in Australia. Of course, it will depend on individual schools though. My daughter went to an excellent school in the UK. Health. I am a huge advocate of the NHS but I don't like what's happening to it. As a nurse therapist, I was under huge pressure in the UK with too many people on my caseload. I was very ill earlier this year and was admitted to hospital following an emergency op. Once I was moved out of high dependency, I was on a ward where one newly qualified nurse and a nursing assistant looked after 20 people. I was left lying in my own bodily fluids for 3.5 hours. It wasn't the nurses fault, she was run off her feet. My daughter had eczema that was so bad she couldn't open her mouth but my GP wouldn't refer to a dermatologist as they were only seeing skin cancer patients. Here in Aus, although I have to pay towards it, the referral was made and we have an appointment in 2 weeks time. Here in NSW, although it's not perfect, nurse / patient ratios are mandated by the unions and the award. OP, ultimately Aus and UK are both great places to live depending on what suits you and your family. Only you know what your priorities are.

Unfortunately that's not the case. You are lucky with your agents / landlord. our agent is a complete dick. We are great tenants - we pay the rent on time and keep the place clean and tidy but he still said no to putting up picture hooks. The agent disputed our condition report, the office staff are rude when I phone and the inspections happen 4 times per year - no deviation. Hence we are breaking our lease and going to a nicer house with a better agent. We are also going to buy a year from now. My kids would like to be able to put posters up etc.

Agreed. If I knew I was all paid up, plus I was now living in a different country with no intention of returning to that country, I would ignore it and not give it another thought.

We're in Lake Macquarie and loving it. Where are you?

I was going to say something similar. I wouldn't avoid Wollongong due to bush fires. The NSW coast is great!

Why don't you try somewhere a bit smaller? We are in Lake Macquarie / Newcastle. We still have the fantastic weather, beaches and bush but with much friendlier people and cheaper housing.

Been having another think. given where you will be working, why not look at Cooranbong or Dora creek? They are pretty little communities and very safe. you would be close to Morisset for food shopping and about 25 minutes to Tuggerah on the central coast for the big Westfield. Bear in mind that depending on time of day of commute, the traffic isn't bad in the area.

Hi Seraphim As I said in the pm, Toronto is not a good idea. It's a low socio economic area. Don't be fooled by how pretty it is on the foreshore. Bonnels bay seems like a nice little community but I don't know much about it as it's quite far down. Speers point would be good - close to amenities and there is a fantastic park there for the kids.

Shocks: none really as I has done my research, but paying for medical appointments and kids dentistry is obviously different here. surprises: free school bus passes, things not as expensive as we had thought once you're earning Aussie dollars.

I live in Newcastle and there was a lot of discussion about this today. It's just shocking. My friends live very close to that fire and it as very scary for them.