LKC

It depends a bit on your budget. We lived near Engadine (in Woronora Heights) and loved it there. There is a real village-type feel to Engadine, with a central shopping area with a community centre (little high street with bakers, butchers, cafe's, greengrocers, hairdressers, post office etc), a leisure centre with a gym, swimming pools etc, lots of play parks, four really good primary schools (Engadine West - where my kids went, a great school, Marton, Engadine Central and St John Bosco - Catholic), close to but slightly back from the main highway, safe and low crime. There is a train station, it is close to the Royal National Park (for walking, cycling and beaches), and it is easy to reach the south coast area. It is one of the cheaper areas, but house prices have gone up over the past few years. As Marisawright says, Gymea might also suit, or Gymea Bay, but you'll probably find house prices are a bit higher. Gymea is kind of sandwiched between some fairly busy roads, which might not suit you. The shopping area in Gymea has similar things to the one in Engadine. There is a big development going in in Kirrawee, which will increase traffic in the area, but the same is true of most areas of Sutherland Shire to be honest. You could also have a look at Heathcote, which is slightly further out than Engadine. I've not lived there myself, but it is similar to Engadine and the schools are highly though of. If you've any more specific questions, give me a shout. We moved away in September, but it won't have changed that much in the time we've been away!

Gosh, that's tough. Would you be moving back to the same place, or could you try somewhere different? Perhaps you might feel differently if you are in a different part of Australia. Would this be a compromise you and your husband would be willing to make?

I'm the same. I didn't realise how unhappy I was in Australia, until I wasn't there any more. I was living a kind of half-life, putting on a smile and keeping things going, when inside I was quietly dying. It actually caused some massive anxiety problems for me, particularly over the last two years we were there, with me having full blown panic attacks and depressive episodes. I am feeling much better now though, and am slowly putting the pieces back together. It's been hard. Do you think you will be able to stay in the UK, or is there too much pressure? @Questions do you think your husband would be open to setting a deadline by which, if things haven't improved with some effort to try to settle on your part (joining clubs/groups etc with your child for example), he would start to think about moving back? It is pretty easy to set things up again here if you've been away. The only thing we had trouble with was proof of address in the first few weeks, because we had no bills etc and the bank we chose wouldn't accept our tenancy agreement. Once we both had driving licenses at the correct address, it was easy.

It's bound to make you feel like that. I did right up until and after we moved. I'm sure we've done the right thing now, but I spent plenty of my time second guessing! The holiday should help put your mind at rest. We came over here on holiday a few months before we decided to move back, and it confirmed to me that I wanted to move back. Funnily enough, we stopped for a picnic just a few miles from where we're now living, whilst on a week-long jaunt around Scotland (between visiting family in Birmingham and Kent). At the time, moving to Scotland wasn't even an option. It just so happened that OH was offered a super job not far from here, and we decided to give it a go! I've just had a look back on Facebook, and the shipping container actually only took nine weeks, door to door. That was from Sydney to the central belt of Scotland

Do you have any local Facebook buy, sell, swap groups? I got rid of most of our things on one of those. Otherwise Gumtree was good, and I took heaps to the charity shop.

School is still closed, and OH's work is closed too. OH has spent the morning digging out two 4x4's and the lane down to the road with the neighbours, so that one car can go and get animal feed (we live in a small development on a farm) and one can go to the supermarket. The neighbour who was heading to the supermarket has just got back with the things we needed, so I have milk and so on that I was running a bit short on. The people who needed to get animal feed have given us eggs from their chickens, in return for OH helping to get them out. OH is still out clearing snow somewhere, the kids are out building igloos with the other kids who live here, and I am rugged up in the warm with the tail end of the flu/cold/cough thing I've had for a couple of weeks. The snow drifts are massive, some up as far as OH's shoulders. OH will need to try and get to work tomorrow I think, so hopefully it will ease off a bit.

We made the decision in the January, spent about six months finishing renovations, decluttering and researching where to live (we aren't from Scotland, but OH was offered a good job here which had an open ended start date so we could take our time). The house went on the market in July, with an auction date for three weeks later (19th August), it sold at auction with a two month settlement, but we flew out to Edinburgh on the 5th September. We had the shipping quotes about six weeks before we flew, booked them about two weeks before. Our cats had their rabies jabs about three months before, I think and then we provisionally booked their transport, although it wasn't confirmed until seven days before (I don't know if you have pets). The shippers came on Thursday to pack, Friday to uplift into the container, we spent the weekend in a very empty house, and flew out on the Monday. I think that as you will need to have proof of funds for your husband's visa, you will need to sell and then rent something while your husband's visa comes through, as you say. That will make it a bit less stressful though, as there were no guarantees our house would sell at auction (we booked OH on a flexible ticket, so he could change his flight if necessary, with just the kids and I to fly if it didn't sell). Our container took about 12 weeks, with a further week for delivery. Good luck with it all. We are currently in the middle of a blizzard, and haven't been able to get out for three days, but I can honestly say it is the best move we've ever made! We're all so much happier here.

No insurance was extra. I think it was about $3000 for $98000 worth of cover.

I'd missed the square meters in your post. That was with Chess. I'd already packed some of our things as they were in a storage unit (decluttered to sell the house), but they packed/wrapped everything else.

We shipped a full 20ft container from Sydney to Grangemouth (and then delivery to Dollar) in September, I think it was just under $8000, so that sounds about right. That included all packing/packing materials, uplift, the customs paperwork/clearance and delivery and removal of packaging. We had to pay a bit extra at this end because the shipping container truck couldn't fit our narrow access lane, so it had to be offloaded into a smaller truck first.

Before we left the UK, the shipping container was packed on the Thursday/Friday, we stayed at OH's parent's house over the weekend, and flew out on the Monday. When we moved back, we had the shippers in on the Thursday/Friday but they left us with the mattresses/bedding and a few basics such as plates/mugs/kettles/a few toys and books for the kids etc. On the Monday we flew, the mattresses were picked up by a mattress recycling company, we took the last few bits to the tip/charity shop, packed anything else that we were bringing either in the suitcases or the box of air freight we'd arranged (which was picked up that same day), locked the door and left the keys with the estate agent to give to the new owners once settlement happened. It was stressful at the time, but looking back it was fine. I had done a massive declutter before we put the house on the market, and I rented a storage unit where I put a load or ready packed boxes, so I spent probably six months doing that. Having said that, we were renovating/decorating at the same time so I could have got it done much quicker if I'd put my mind to it. We booked the shippers to come round for quotes about six weeks before, but we didn't need to book them until about two weeks before we left.

Yep, we're right in the middle of the red area. OH came home early yesterday, it took some of his work colleagues three or more hours to get home, but thankfully it only took him an hour (usually takes 30 minutes). We've had a whomping overnight, and this morning have no water. The pipes inside the house seem okay, but the pipe to the house appears to be frozen somewhere. It's a new house (new build), so we'll phone the builder in a bit and hopefully it'll be sorted out. Kids are off school again today, and OH will have to stay home from work depending on the plumbing situation.

It quite often snows at this time of year, or at least it did. My birthday is on the 27th Feb, and I can think of numerous times where it has snowed on or around my birthday, growing up in Birmingham. The Met Office has just issued a red weather warning for our bit of Scotland, so OH is on his way home. It is too bad for the kids to play out in it, the wind is too strong.

We a little bit of snow yesterday and more overnight. It is going between blue sky and sunshine, and blizzard conditions at the moment. This was the view out of my back window earlier. OH got to work without difficulty, although he took my car because school is closed (so I don't need it with the kids) and it is a 4x4.

Oh, and good luck! We haven't regretted moving back for a second!

We used Chess from Sydney, I'm pretty sure they cover Perth. Packing and uplift was stress free and quick, it took about 12 weeks for our shipment to arrive in Grangemouth, and then it was delivered about a week later by Britannia removals. There was a slight hiccup because they tried to charge us extra for delivery to our address (We'd put Edinburgh on the paperwork, not knowing where we were going to end up, but were actually closer to the dock, albeit in a different area), but it was sorted out easily.

I'm fairly sure it isn't needed until the shipment reaches the UK, as it is for HMRC. Having said that, you could always phone and ask for them to expedite it for you, if the shipper won't do anything until they have the number in hand. Ours was pretty quick, if memory serves me, but I'm sure I've read of other people phoning and them being quite happy to sort it out over the phone. Worst case scenario, you can do it afterwards. Pay the duty on your shipment and then claim it back from HMRC after. I'm sorry to hear about your situation, but hopefully things will settle down for you now.

We did too. We lived in Suffolk before we moved to Australia, but only because we'd ended up there, not because we specifically chose it as a place to live, it wasn't near either family. When we decided to move back from Sydney we realised that we'd not be happy just to end up somewhere again, and did countless hours of research, looking at lots of different places in the UK. As it happens, OH was offered a good job near to one of the locations we'd looked at, so we shifted our research slightly, found somewhere we thought we'd be happy, and six months later here we are, moved into our own house in the most lovely village on the southern edge of the Scottish Highlands! Good luck with it all!

We moved back to the UK in September, and I can honestly say it is absolutely the best thing we have ever done! We lived in Sydney for almost nine years. We went over there originally because OH was offered a job, we'd always talked about living overseas, and our kids were little (1 and 2) so easy to move. We had a fantastic time there. Saw things that we'd never dreamed of, lived the dream with the big house with a pool in Sydney. However, although none of us were ever homesick, as time went on OH and I felt more isolated, less settled and less happy. I reckon for the last three or so years I was living in a kind of twilight. Existence rather than living. It wasn't home and we didn't belong. We went for a holiday to the UK in September/October 2016. Mostly we were visiting family, but for a week of that we were on holiday as a family in Scotland. Whilst on holiday it hit me that we were in the wrong place. I confided in my husband who agreed that whilst he wasn't unhappy in Australia he would be quite happy to move back to the UK. We consulted the children, and whilst they were upset initially, they soon started to look forwards to our new adventure. We lived in Suffolk before we moved to Aus, but we lived there because we ended up there, and whilst it was a nice place to live, it wasn't somewhere we would have chosen. So, when moving back to the UK we were very careful to pick the perfect place, through hundreds of hours of research. We looked at Bath/Bristol, Yorkshire, Northumbria and Scotland. OH was offered a job in Scotland, so I concentrated my search within commuting areas of work and found the most perfect place for us. Don't give up on the dream. We are in Scotland, where apparently it is cold and it rains permanently (it doesn't, today we had blue sky and sunshine all day, as we have had more often than not). Our kids are incredibly happy at school. Eldest (who has Asperger's) has had loads of help/support, with a learning support teacher at school and the involvement of an occupational therapist. Politics is a bit crap at the moment, and I've no idea what is going to happen with Brexit, but the UK is the most glorious place to live, and I am absolutely sure that moving back is the right thing for us to have done. The kids are obsessed with Blue Peter, eldest earned a badge recently...the UK is great!

Our kids were a bit smaller than yours when we moved over (1 and 2), but were older when we moved back (9 and 11), and they were fine both times. I do understand the worry though. We moved for pretty much the same reason, just because we'd always talked about living overseas, and it was an itch we had to scratch. OH was offered a job, and we decided to give it a try. We never looked at is as being a forever thing, just a for now. We had a great time, saw some beautiful places, and were very happy there for a number of years. We moved back for many reasons, but school was a consideration for us. Our eldest has Asperger's, and we felt that she was being left behind a bit or overlooked at school. There was very little in the way of support for her, and she was bullied a bit for being clever rather than sporty. She was due to start high school in January, and we decided that if we were to move back, we had to do it before high school. As it is we moved to Scotland where they start a bit later, and so she is still in primary school (a lovely little village school) until she starts high school in August. Remember that nothing has to be forever, and if you decide to give it a go and it all goes pear shaped, you can move again. The only thing I would recommend is that you plan well, both in terms of financially to ensure that you have a reserve to move back with if you decide that you need to, and also have some honest conversations with your husband about what should happen if one of you is happy but the other isn't. I've seen on here time and time again, situations which are impossible to get out of, either due to financial difficulties, or because one partner wants to go home with the children but the other parent won't allow it. Don't underestimate the strain that a move can have on even the strongest of relationships.

I agree with the above posters about clutter and so on. When we sold our house in Sydney I went through and decluttered, de-personalised everything, got a few cheap cushions and throws etc in neutral tones, repositioned the furniture so that each room was shown to its best, painted throughout, did the garden, washed down the drive/patio/brickwork on the house etc and it really looked beautiful when we'd done. It was hard work though. I wouldn't have any empty rooms, dress them as if they are being used. Maximise the potential, for example we turned our study back into a bedroom and then made up a study area on the landing, so that potential buyers saw bedrooms being used as bedrooms, but that there was also somewhere for a desk. Good luck with it, and as the others have suggested you might want to think about renting it out and renting something over here.

We were allowed four cats in our rental when we arrived back in the UK. We just had it put in the contract that we'd repair anything damaged by the cats (they didn't damage anything) and that we'd pay to get the carpets cleaned. The UK is much more pet friendly, in my opinion.

Yes, Sutherland Shire is lovely, we used to live there, but it is getting more expensive. We sold our house for almost double what we bought it for nine years previously. I can personally recommend the Engadine area. Really good schools, nice shopping area and other facilities such as a leisure centre, play parks and a skate park, about 50 minutes or so on the train to Sydney CBD, just under an hour to the airport, on the doorstep of the Royal National Park (gorgeous beaches and lots of walking), the NSW south coast (stunning) is in easy reach, and you aren't so far from the coast (about 25-30 minutes drive to the beach). There is a larger shopping area with cinema and restaurants etc in Miranda (15 minutes).

There is a thread about this sort of situation. If there is any sort of possibility that you might separate, I would seriously reconsider whether moving over to Australia is the right thing to do, because you might find yourself in a situation that you can't get out of. Here is the other thread, I would advise you to read it through. .

Towards the end of year 5 eldest started having anxiety attacks occasionally, and school were always very quick to phone and ask me to fetch her. She spent a few weeks doing part-time school, because they wouldn't allow or support her with the coping strategies that her psychologist had taught her. It was easier for them to phone me to collect her than it was to allow her to go to a quiet place and use her meditation etc. The school she is at now is a complete breath of fresh air, and she is happier for it. In fact now I can see how happy she is here, it makes me realise just how unhappy she was in Australia. I hadn't fully realised at the time because it had just kind of crept up, if that makes sense.