Penelope Pitstop

Totally agree. My father-in-law comes from the northern end of Lake Como, We have had some lovely holidays in the area - it really is beautiful.

When we moved here my son had done a term in year 6 in England, then had to start year 5 in Australia! He wasn't too happy with that, but in reality he enjoyed being one of the older kids in the class. Being a July baby he had always been the youngest boy in his class in England - being older was a new experience for him and gave him a lot of confidence. Curriculum-wise he was ahead of his peers in Australia which gave him some breathing space to get used to the differences in the 2 systems and allowed him to concentrate on making friends without worrying about falling behind with his school work. So although it might sound like going back it isn't necessarily a bad thing (and nobody in Australia will care what school year you were in England).

If your son was 15 in July then there is a small chance he would go into year 11 next January but most likely it would be year 10. My son is a whole year older than him (16 in July) and is currently in year 10, he is one of the older ones in his year but the cut-off point is roughly April. If your son went into year 11 he would be the youngest in the class and a whole year younger than some of his classmates - saying that though all schools are different and there may be a difference between states.

If you are Indian you can't have dual citizenship. My work colleague and her husband have become Australian citizens but her adult son won't give up his Indian citizenship.

Heel/ankle pain could be something called Plantar Fasciitis (google it) - it hurts most first thing in the morning when you get out of bed or if you've been sitting still for a long time. I had it quite bad (must admit I didn't go to the doctor) and from what I read the best cure is rest, time and losing weight. I stopped walking so much which has helped, and got a new decent pair of supportive walking shoes - haven't managed the weight loss so far though!! [h=1][/h]

We were last there a couple of years ago. I didn't feel that anything was particularly expensive, or any more expensive than Australia. The hotel bar had a happy hour, we ate in the hotel and the prices weren't exhorbitant and the food was good. Plus there is always McDonalds or the food courts in the malls which aren't expensive. Public transport is very cheap, we caught taxis a couple of times and they were surprisingly cheap too (especially when there are 4 of you). If you are with Singapore airlines their hop on hop off bus is free. The airport transfer desk will get you to your hotel for S$9 per head (A$8.50) - obviously the exchange rate isn't so good now but it is still not mega-expensive.

I work administrating OUA courses provided by UniSA in Adelaide. It is a great and very flexible way to learn and our developers are very dedicated to improving the courses to make them as good as they can. It is the way forward for lots of universities to make more of their courses available for online study. Good luck with your studies!

My husband didn't struggle with anything, he missed hot weather and the beach at times but not too badly. We lived in a semi-rural area so it was less busy and built up than living in a city in Australia.

We used a hop-on hop-off double decker bus to get around, was pretty cheap. Spent ages in a shopping mall near our hotel (the Swiss Garden), the mall just specialised in IT, phones, cameras etc, huge and absolutely fascinating - just googling it must have been the Plaza Low Yat http://plazalowyat.com/. For the best views of the Petronas Towers and the city go up the telecom tower nearby, no queues and you go up higher than the twin towers https://www.menarakl.com.my/

I would agree - Brighton is good, also anywhere in the South East/Home Counties/M4 corridor/Reading area. Essex is great, ignore any comments about wide boys, just a stereotype. Rainfall is lower in the East (Essex/Suffolk/Kent) than in the South West, but if you want to be able to escape to Devon or Cornwall regularly then west or south west of London is better. Alternatively live near Gatwick airport (between London and Brighton in Sussex) or Stansted airport (between London and Cambridge in Essex) and escape regularly to the sun on cheap flights to Europe!!

Took this one last summer at Henley Beach in Adelaide

That's incredibly poetic. I returned to England after 3 years living in Australia (many years ago). I thought the youth looked malnourished and pale and that people in shops seemed miserable in comparison. The culture shock didn't last for long though and I soon forgot about Australia and embraced the complexities and subtleties of life that are noticeably missing in Australia. I am now living back in Australia again and we went to England for a holiday last year and it honestly felt as if I had never been away - it was as if my life in Australia had never existed it was so insignificent. People in England were cheerful and full of life but it was summer and the weather was good. Everyone says the country is struggling and people are struggling but everyone I know is doing well, living in nice houses and having holidays abroad. However having teenage kids I am glad we are in Australia as their peers in England seem much more wordly-wise and cynical (that's the impression I get from Facebook at least). It's swings and roundabouts.

Hi David, Have just read your posts and they are much appreciated (we have just got back from holiday so I haven't been on here for a while). Your case does seem much stronger than ours, as we decided to move back to Australia but are now wishing we hadn't. We have left the majority of our money in the UK all this time but that is the only tangible tie (apart from my family). We would love to move back to England but do worry that it wouldn't be the right thing to uproot our children again - but we have really stuggled to settle here - so it is a difficult decision and we still haven't decided what to do for the best. I will take onboard your advice to get a good lawyer if we go try to go down that route - and congratulations on getting the RRV!

The passport does make me feel more a part of Australia now. I did the citizenship ceremony but it didn't mean much, having the passport somehow makes it more real.

I find that some days I feel very English and other days I feel more Australian. My first ever Australian passport arrived in the post today - was weird looking at it - my photo, my name, nationality 'Australian' - weird!!!