Si T

I am probably in the minority of people but the education thing isn't as big a deal to me. If you really think about it what difference would an extra couple of years before graduating make? Due to time spent in the Royal Navy I didn't start Uni until I was 22 and have ended up with a pretty decent accountancy career where I now own my own consulting business. I am not trying to demean education as a factor, but am trying to point out that over the course of a whole lifetime a couple of years doesn't really add up to much. If you were to get citizenship and then go back your son could always wait until he meets residency before going to university. He would still graduate before he was 25 and have 45 years working life left. Just my two cents. Good luck Si

Gower Peninsular. Pretty much all of it but particularly like going all the way down to Port Eynon. Never went often enough before I moved to Oz.

If he is looking at playing at as high a standard as possible then there are a few options open to him. Perth Glory trials start around October/November but it is always worth looking at the NPL clubs who trial around the same time. There are a number of NPL clubs south of the river but the strongest junior clubs, in my experience, tend to be north. ECU Joondalup, Perth SC, Sorrento seem to be the clubs at or around the top of the tables year on year in juniors. Other clubs do get there or thereabouts but those three seem to consistently do it. Cockburn would be an established club south of the river, as would Armadale. New NPL Junior clubs would be Fremantle, Mandurah, Rockingham, Bunbury (South West Phoenix) and Melville.

Rockingham, Port Kennedy and Mandurah are all good clubs for Juniors. Rockingham and Mandurah have both joined the NPL this season for their kids teams so from U12's they will be playing the junior teams from the National Premier League such as Bayswater, ECU Joondalup and Perth SC. They have brought those clubs, plus a few others into the junior NPL to try and give the kids in those areas access to a higher level of coaching as they have to be at least a C license to coach a junior NPL team. I have personally played against all three of those clubs at Vets level and both Rockingham and Mandurah have an excellent set up. I personally prefer Rockingham as I felt that the facilities were first class when I played down there last year. As a club, we are looking forward to heading down there this season as we received a pretty good welcome from them. That says a lot about a club for me. I can't comment on Port Kennedy's set up as we played them at home so I didn't get to see their facilities. There are other clubs down there as well such as Cockburn (who are one of the established NPL teams) but I would imagine that Rockingham may be a good place to start for you. Just bear in mind that you will be arriving half way through the season and so most clubs will have their squads established. It may be an idea to try and contact the clubs any time from now to see if they may have any spaces. Some of the clubs have community sides in addition to the NPL/State League and so you may have to slot them in there for this season. My son will also be playing against them this year for ECU and it will be interesting to see if there is much difference between the new clubs and the established NPL kids.

Quite simple reasons for me. I live here, I like it here, I'm eligible and you never quite know what the future holds. At almost 44 it is highly unlikely I will ever feel "Aussie" and will always be Welsh first and foremost but my current situation means that obtaining citizenship makes sense.

I think we feel the same way Cal. Both the kids are settled, I'm settled and Trude is pretty much there or thereabouts even though she has her days when she still gets homesick.

Hi all Just realised that it is now four years today since we arrived. We have our citizenship test on Friday (the four years started when we flew over for WDU which was six months before). And I still have the Megane. The last twelve months have been proper up and down with retrenchment back in April 2015 leading to a tough six months but which has culminated in me establishing my own business consultancy for SME's for the last six months which is doing well so far. I've picked up a few clients and have been able to stabilise everything and will be looking to grow over the coming months. There seems to be a bit of doom and gloom around WA at the moment due to the downturn in the resources sector but I see it as the industry leaving the investment phase and moving into a production phase. The drop in resource prices has meant that the hit has been harder than it should have been but there are sectors out there which are experiencing growth such as Aged Care and Healthcare. Not a lot of help to resources guys who have found themselves out of work but it means that money is still flowing in the area. One thing the last twelve months has underlined for me is the importance of keeping the outgoings down and not getting sucked into the materialistic side of things. It means a lot less pressure on you financially if the s**t hits the fan. I was also thinking about the whole Perth being expensive thing this morning and when I compare things to what I was paying at home, while there are areas such as housing where it is pretty expensive, I find it much of a muchness. Items such as our weekly shop, utilities etc. I find to be on a par with what we paid at home overall. There are certain things which are more expensive but some things which are cheaper. Shopping outside of the duopoly is a help in that regard. Things like petrol, car insurance etc. I find to be cheaper here. I would also say that as long as you are looking to be reasonable about the car you buy they are similar or slightly higher. The trade off is that they tend to hold their value better than the UK. This means that the upfront payment may be more but the net cost after you sell it could possibly be less. I have held onto my Megane for now and will probably do so for the next couple of years. It is running pretty well and the paint work is okay so I have decided not to create another finance payment for us to have to meet every month for now. If the business goes well over the next couple of years I may look to replace it but only once I can at least put a substantial deposit down. Trudy is a lot more settled now that she has the chance to get back to the UK once a year. She went last year for a wedding and to see her family and came back a lot happier. She is off again in July to visit friends and family and is looking forward to it. Jakey and I had to fly back a few weeks ago and upon our return have no real urge to head back any time soon. It was good to see friends and family but we both feel that we have a better life here and that it suits us both to be here. That obviously isn't going to be the same for everyone and it is certainly a case of each to their own. We have also been in the house we were building for almost two years and feel settled on that score. Just little things like being able to put up pictures when and where we like makes a big difference. We have noticed that there are a lot of empty rentals in the area where people have looked to build investment properties which have then been impacted by the reduction in people looking to rent. For me that has been the biggest impact of the resources issue, the number of available rentals. The value of properties also seems to have at least stabilised which I don't think is a bad thing. That will mean that the value of ours won't increase as much as we first thought it may but we like the house and if the worst thing that happens is that we live in it for twenty years then that is hardly the end of the world, especially as the estate develops over the next 3-5 years. I have noticed that a number of people seem to be heading back to the UK and I wish them luck. Their reasons for going back are just as valid as my reasons for staying and I get really frustrated when I see people from both sides of the issue trying to belittle the thought processes and decisions of people they don't even really know just because it doesn't fit with their own point of view. It's too easy to sit behind a keyboard and put people down without any recourse. Get a grip people. All in all, things are still pretty positive for us but I think that has a lot to do with understanding from day one we were going to have to work hard to make it a success. Sometimes even that isn't enough and outside factors will determine how things work out no matter what you do but I feel we have been lucky on that score. I am a big believer that you make your own luck but am also aware that things come out of left field that you can't possibly prepare for and can make your decision for you. Cheers Si

I remember your original post and so am very glad that you have managed to straighten things out. My wife and I have agreed that she goes back to Swansea once per year in order to see her friends and family and it has made a massive difference to her mindset here in Australia. My son and I have to head back tomorrow night for 8 days and while the circumstances of our trip aren't the best we are both looking forward to being able to catch up with family & friends for the first time since we moved here four years ago. It will be interesting to see where we see home as a result. Good luck for the future Si

Hi Ndoyle The market at the more senior level is pretty quiet and has been for the last 18 months. The FC/CFO level doesn't currently see a great deal of movement but it will turn at some point. The more junior $90k-$120k level seems a bit more buoyant so if you are happy to take that salary level for a while then you may be okay. Just bear in mind that there are a number of more senior people waiting for the market to turn in order to get roles at the level they are used to and they could be deemed to be more desirable to their experience in the local market when things get better so you may be in a lower paid role than you would normally expect. If you would like me to give you the details of some good recruiters I work with here drop me a PM and I will reply with their names and numbers. Let them know that I gave you their details and at the very least they will have an honest conversation with you. I will give you my full name when I send you their details. One comment made to me by one of them last year was that they were willing to register new applicants from out of state but weren't able to do much for them due to the numbers of local accountants vying for the roles which are coming up. If you have any more specific questions please feel free to pm me. The market isn't brilliant at the moment but if you are intent on heading over I would ensure that you have a pretty decent financial buffer, be prepared to start in a lower role than you are qualified/experienced for and be flexible on location / be willing to commute. Good luck Si

I quite simply fancied a change. Mrs T agreed to give it a go so we spent around 5-6 years getting to a position where we were able to do it and went for it. Had never been here until we filmed WDU and moved here six months later. Four years later we have applied for citizenship and are sitting the test in March. We do have a better lifestyle here, but only because we have forced ourselves out of the trap we had created for ourselves and don't sit in front of the tv as much. If we had had our wits about us in the UK we could pretty certainly have done the same there but it seems that moving here gave us the spur we needed. Sometime a change is as good as a rest as they say. Mrs T has been back once and Jakey and I have not been back yet. We are going back in a few weeks as a result of one of the dreaded calls from home but if that hadn't been the case neither of us had any urge to visit the UK for at least a couple of years. Saying that, except for the circumstances for our return, Jakey and I are looking forward to the visit and seeing our friends and family for a bit. On the flip side I have agreed that Trude returns every year to see her mum as it seems to have helped her to finally settle here. We landed here with $11,000 in the bank and no job or home to come to so have not had an easy path to it. We have been successful so far down to sheer hard work, being able to talk as a family if something is bothering us and a great deal of compromise. My career stalled for a while as I took the prerequisite backward step just as the economy started dipping in WA but have now started my own SME consulting business and am getting back to where I was in the UK. A brief example of the change in lifestyle for us. Jakey and I are both keen footballers. I play Vets and he plays NPL for ECU. In the four years we have been here neither of us has had a single game called off due to the weather so have been able to train and play every week and have the social interaction and develop friendships off the back of it. I contacted one of my close mates this week at home to find out the fixtures for Jakey's old team so we can go and watch them and the comment was that they haven't played since November due to the weather. That is 8-10 weeks of not being able to get out on the weekend to play sport. Even the senior sides have only had one weekend where games have been on in that time. Please bear in mind that this is only an example of how it has been an improvement FOR US and I don't expect it to be the same for everyone. On the flip side, I have been lying awake at night worrying about my mother being on her own in the UK once my stepdad has gone as all three of us son's either live in Australia or spend up to 9 months of the year outside the UK. That is a very real issue and something that people should also be aware of.

A little bit of fear is good, it means you're alive

My advice would be to use the time to improve your English language skills and study for a professional accounting qualification. You can have as many degrees as you like but without your professional letters you will not be classed as a qualified accountant. I would second the advice that you should obtain your CPA and try and get an entry level position in order to gain experience while you do so. The PR issue aside, additional masters degrees will do little for your career without relevant experience. In my opinion, unless you are looking to teach at a university, neither will a PHD. I would be very unlikely to hire someone to work in my finance teams with a PHD/numerous Master's Degrees unless they had sufficient relevant experience.

As a Dad, you have my admiration for allowing your son to make his own decision and having the strength to let him go and find out for himself. For your son, it is a pity that he had to go through a less than deal experience in order to know that it would not be what he wanted long term. It takes a special parent to not bad mouth the other after a family splits up, one who is able to put the needs of the child before their own personal feelings. My parents split when I was two years old and not once did my mother criticise my father in front of me. She simply waited until I was old enough for me to find out for myself and supported me through the process when I did. I am forever grateful to her for that and I am sure that when your son is old enough to understand better, he will be grateful to you also. It is a great pity that there are not more parents like you, the family courts would be a lot less busy and the children would be a great deal happier. Good luck and I am glad it has worked out well in the end for you both. Si

Being Welsh I can fully understand why you might yearn for home. My wife is in a similar position in that she hasn't fully settled here after almost four years and was pretty homesick. She went home for a few weeks for a wedding in August and thoroughly enjoyed herself. When she came back she was pretty unsettled so we sat down to discuss it. Myself, our 23 year old girl and 12 year old boy are all settled and loving it here but for Trude it just isn't the same. She has some very good friends here who she meets up with each week and so it isn't a lack of a social network. Going back to Quoll's comments, I think that it is possible that situational depression may be having an impact. I am far from an expert but have lived closely with different forms of depression in family members for many years. Believe me, just speaking to someone can be a huge help. It may not solve the problem but can help you with gaining clarity (even if that clarity meant that you were absolutely determined to head back). Once you have clarity you can move forward. At this moment in time you have any number of contradictory thoughts running through your head and that is adding to the issue. Seeking help is a sign of strength, not weakness. My son suffers from a similar anxiety that I did as a young kid so we took the step of getting him referred to a psychologist to help as it was affecting his schooling. I was absolutely uncomfortable with it at first as I felt I had failed him but seeing the improvement in him I am now completely convinced that I have done the best thing I could have by him in doing so. He is much happier and we have no trouble getting him to school. After 19 years together we love each other as much as we always have and so being together as a family is our fundamental position. As long as we have that we can face anything. We have agreed that Trude will head back to the UK for three weeks of each year to catch up with her family and friends (and shop in Primark) and she is then more happy to live here in return. One thing I have forced myself to learn to do over the last couple of years is to live in today. You can't change the past and worrying about a future that hasn't yet happened serves no purpose. We can deal with today's problems, it's when we add yesterday's and tomorrow's that the burden becomes unbearable. Good luck Cymru am Byth Si

Our first trip here was to film WDU so we didn't take any notice of that trip in our decision (other than the twirly flag bit for the camera's). We just thought what the hell and booked our flights. Yesterday was three years since we landed and we've never looked back. I just don't think that a two week holiday would benefit you much even if you crammed a lot into it. If you wouldn't have even applied for your visa's a lot can change by the time you came permanently. What's the worst that can happen really? Even if it costs you a chunk of money to move over and it doesn't work out then at least you can look back and say you gave it a go. Means more than money to me.