docboat

Jandakot? Try going inland a little. Southern River - has an excellent school (Bletchley Park primary) which is independent, great teachers, good atmosphere. The surrounding area is relatively new, a lot of migrants, who place focus on children and education, so the standard is high, supportive and of good quality. We lived in Harrisdale for a while, and there is a newer primary in the area, but also a high school, and I believe the standards are good there too. Fremantle is excellent, but perhaps the housing a bit pricey. East Fremantle primary is very good. The rail line from Fremantle opens up a few schools along the line.

If you are a GP, and willing to work in regional WA, I would be willing to consider sponsoring you.

I have spent the last few years avoiding Pomsinoz and feeling much the better for it. But I dropped back in this afternoon and found your post, @Rainman, worrying. You will, of course, make up your own mind, and it seems you have. When a mind has been made up, you generally find that arguments to the contrary are seen as a challenge, to be fought back as somehow being incorrect, misguided or just not appropriate for your circumstances. We all do it. I was 16 when my parents took me "back home". It was nearly 4 decades before I returned home. In between I had a fantastic life, almost none of it spent in the UK, a place I avoid like the plague. They had very good reasons, and I appreciate the fact that their reasons were very valid. I learned to live with their decision, and finished school, and university, to leave at the very first serious opportunity. (Germany for a decade, as the first stop) Now, my reasons for being unhappy in the UK are entirely irrelevant. It is a beautiful country, there is/was family there, and you do get used to the weather, even if the lifestyle has to be changed completely. I was a surf lifesaver, and that does not work well in the North Sea. I loved my tennis, and while you can certainly play (Andy Murray - yay!) the opportunities in Australia are certainly way better. Golf may be at home in Scotland, but the courses in Perth are far better. My friends gradually lost contact with me - I made new friends, but you know, I never was able to have long term friends, good friends, meaningful friends, because I was never certain if I was going to be around for much longer. You tend to learn to make - and lose - friends very easily. It is a good social skill, but do you want your children to develop that skill? Mind you, at 19 that is another matter altogether, and she will be out of your home in a flash and off to live her own life before you can blink. What concerned me about your initial post, and it may be completely wrong, and your family may well be 100% behind your decision, but it seemed that the whole move was about you. For which you are now prepared to pay the price of long commutes, staying away during the week in undesirable digs, forcing penury upon yourself ... because you feel it is the right move ... for you. It is really none of my business, or anyone else for that matter. But it disturbs me.

Hey, brother! I went there too, after I left Scotch. Long time ago though. It was a good school, I remember.

It is a prime area to live. Nothing to complain about - expensive of course, but beautiful place to live and convenient to major locations.

Don't worry about using "Abo" - it is what is usually said when there are no PC-idiots around, and kind of counters the "White c***" that is usually used by the abos. On the other hand, there are some - many - absolutely wonderful indigenous people around, who are a real pleasure to be with, and they are never called abo, but referred to by name and called sir if you are of a generation where good manners count.

It seems that you @Daffodil will be best suited to heading "home" to Wales for longer periods with your friends and family, leaving your husband where he thrives, and your children in their own home environment, which is Australia. That period in Wales may be 2 weeks, 2 months or 9 months, and you can return to your family's home for the period that best suits you. Such may be a solution. Take the recipe once yearly and repeat. Seriously - your happiness is important too, but your happiness should not result in anyone else's unhappiness, least of all the children, who are growing up in Australia much as you grew up in Wales.

Quite agree. But there are replies which include such as this: Which begs the question that it would be OK for the husband to accept he should be living his life in misery? Transforming the question may permit a more open review, and open up the hidden biases in responders minds. It is very awkward in a relationship when one partner changes the goalposts and expects the other to "compromise" (cave in under pressure) to a situation not agreed to (or even expected?) before marriage. Under such circumstances, counselling is a priority. Why did the goalposts change? What needs does the goalpost changer now have that were not present before? How can the goalpost changee understand and adjust?

How would it sound if the couple were in Wales and the Aussie husband desperately wanted to return to Australia?

We have lived in Bibra Lake and now Harrisdale. Bibra Lake is closer, has an excellent primary school. A little further (Coolbellup) is a growing suburb, gentrifying, but the primary school is not the best. Harrisdale or Southern River is not too far from Henderson, and Bletchley Park primary school is excellent. Perhaps a little far for the commute though. Fremantle itself is a great place to live, a number of good schools, private and public in the area, but high school is a little early for your concerns. Coogee is about as far south as I would want to come in living. Access to Perth up the Kwinana freeway is easy IF it is not rush hour traffic. You might be as well to go up to Fremantle and along Stirling Highway Honestly, there are many choices available. I would recommend starting with looking at Bibra Lake and using that as a centre (close to Fremantle, Perth and not too bad to travel to Henderson) expand your area of search.

If you do come here to get the check done, you might have to pay - but as you know, there are reciprocal care agreements in place between Medicare and NHS. But, if you do have to pay, the consult with a GP should be around $70, the low dose CT (do not go for a simple CXR - tells not a great deal) of the chest will cost $100+ and there are certainly imaging clinics which bulk bill. You might find, however, with good November weather in Sydney, that fresh air and warmth clears your chest right up. So no worries, enjoy the flight and relax.

You will need a low dose CT chest which is not expensive, takes about the same time as a CXR, and gives a lot more information with little radiation. That and spirometry results, and most often you have a diagnosis. Not discussing with you options or explaining what is really going on is a hallmark of either a bad or ignorant GP. In either case, change.

I have no idea how the schools here compare with the UK. My boys compare their current standing with friends in Hong Kong, and compared to Chinese students they lag behind in the more academic studies. But .... and there is a but! But, for maths they attended Kumon, and youngest at 9 is at the level of factorising quadratic equations. And the older one has the last term of PEAC, which is a competitive entry for advanced studies for which they are taken out of school for several hours to be with peer groups - currently he is doing higher studies in a variety of subjects - robot lab last term, and coding (ie the maths behind creating and breaking codes) this term. You can also do the tutorial schools for more developed learning - it is the secret behind many an Asian child shining. But .... again the but! But the schools here are much better than Asian schools in teaching social skills, creative thinking. Having said that, we have some awful schools too.

We are next door in Harrisdale. Bletchley Park primary school is excellent. Our eldest is going to John Curtin next year, and the transport there is maybe long, but easy on train and bus. Other schools in the are for high school include Rossmoyne, Willetton and Applecross - many others. Excellent area and good environment

It can be hard. I recall returning to the UK, much against my will. I had spent 10 years in Germany - EU treaties etc, but then had spent just over 1 year outside the EU boundaries. About 2 weeks over, I think. I arrived back in the UK with no job, no reserves, and a wife and three children to support. The assistance I got from DSS, despite UK passport, full citizenship, native title if you like, was exactly zero. Because I had spent more than 1 year outside the EU zone.