lismith25

Hi, we have just returned from a 3 week holiday in uk, lots of travelling and catching up with family, great time. For at least 2 yrs before i have had bouts of homesickness, country pubs beautiful scenery and villages, went and did all those things lots of times and it was great. Its weird as homesickness has gone, had a great holiday but feel OZ has a bit more going on for us. But i think either choice is good as long as you give it a go UK surprised me, weather was cold but still got out and did things. Wife and kids loved the cold and it wasnt good coming back into the north qld heat and humidity, but a move to brisbane is a lot cheaper than move to uk and we can both transfer our jobs. Cairns is a great place and somewhere else we looked at but want somewhere that has a bit of a winter. Good luck either country has good and bad points but i see lots of happy people in the uk as well as australia.

Hey mate, seek.com.au is good for jobs. I'm in North Qld so not sure how Perth is going, mining is picking up over here so maybe Perth will follow. How's electrical work in UK? Plenty about?

Agree and this is really the main point! We didn't move to Australia for the money, we left for the adventure. 12 years later, 2 kids who will be high school age, my husband who will be 50 and our priorities are slightly different now. We need to make sure our family will be ok financially. We are fortunate to be able to get our ducks in a row before we decide where and when to go.

Thanks for the responses, we are aware we would earn less in the UK, but somehow if the living costs were also less it would balance out. Over here we both have good jobs including super, living expenses are high where we live, but we are able to save a bit each month. While the move would not be for financial reasons, I am concerned that the areas we are thinking of moving to in the south west will leave us a lot worse off. And that is a huge obstacle for my husband to overcome!

As far as i can work out, teacher in AU $ 69,500 ( 34,000 pound) from web site uk wage 24,000 to 29,000 pound. Electrician town work AU $78,000 ( 38,750 pound ) from web site uk wage 26,000 to 32,000 pound. Big difference in wages and AU also pay 9% super on top, not sure if uk has a compulsory superanuation. Want to head back home but don't want to be worse off financially if we can help it.

How do the costs compare with the wages? I am reading all of the replies, as a serious return is on the cards for us, but as a teacher and electrician the wage difference between countries is pretty huge. The arguments over living costs is a major issue for us, so this is a very interesting point.

Unfortunately when you get here you have to jump through the hoops, pain in the arse but until you have a licence you can only work as a TA. Once you have your have it there are still some high paying jobs around, Oil and Gas pay pretty well and coal mine contractors are always looking for shutdown or install work? companys will sometimes put you through some training but Hazardous areas is always a good qualification to have, not everyones cup of tea but great money. Town work normally pays $33 to $36/hr.

We are on a 2 year plan, to save as much as we can before we head home. Nothing is wrong, we live in a picture perfect paradise, both have good permanent jobs, citizenship and 2 Australian born "English" children. But the heat and working outside is killing my husband and yes while we do have friends, my true friends will remain wherever we go. And it is simply getting to "that" time! We have been here 12 years and are both starting to resent the restrictions. Not going back specifically for family, but it would be a lie to say being in the same country and having some support is not a positive. Do what makes your heart sing, everyone has different needs and no one will fully understand? So do what you need to make yourselves happy :cute:

I am not a big fan of Southampton but I have friend who live in Hamble which is close to the water and definitely more villagey. I like Portsmouth but you would have to be away from the student areas or Chichester but that is more pricey. But other possible options I know that are on our radar are Salisbury and a little further Taunton. Good luck

Can I please check something, I was hoping to send my dog back about a month before we would fly. My reasons are we live in an inconvenient pkace to travel too and from, so I was going to travel with him down to Brisbane. Settle him, hand him over and get my parents to collect him from Heathrow, then come back and finish the pack up. Is this going to be possible or Is there a timeframe? Thanks

We are also thinking along similar lines. Been here 12 years and it's now looking like we will have a definite move before my eldest enters high school. She is in Year 2 currently, so we will either go next year at the end of semester 1(end of June) when she would go into Year 4 straight away or the last opportunity would be June 2017, to give her a year in primary with me before high school. And also it gives us the option for her to sit the 11+ for possible grammar school entry. We will probably keep our house here, but it's time to show our kids a different perspective. :wink:

Fabulous information AA thank you for the detail. I have been in contact with the Education department about getting my qualifications and work recognised, all takes time but seems to be a straightforward process, we will see. I have contacted a teaching agency who seems to be optimistic about work, obviously it will depend on availability at the time, but it might give me a more secure way in. The plan is looking like I will secure the job first and my dh will sort his qualifications out when we are back. We are also going back for a reccy over the christmas period to look at potential areas to move too, in the cold and wintery light. All things considered we seem to be moving forward. We will definitely move from here, before my daughter is old enough for high school so it will just be a question of where. It's a bit exciting

Hi, just wondering why you chose Chester over Plymouth ? I was brought up in birkenhead and do like Chester but Plymouth was one of the places we looked at heading back to and looks really nice. We also are looking at salisbury or Bournemouth.

Thanks everyone, feeling hopeful. Glad the doomsayers are just spouting nonsense. Keep it coming :wink:

No I don't think the UK is hideously awful or I wouldn't even be contemplating the move :wink: I am just looking for some constructive information. It's very hard to get an accurate picture of what life is like and unfortunately those that sing the loudest are often the ones unhappy with their situation. Which is true of everywhere! We are not the unattached free youngsters we were when we arrived, so this is simply us planning our next course (phase 1), but with 2 kids and a dog in tow. We are in no hurry and can afford to be picky with where we relocate to, so we just want as many options as we can possibly get.