fourcorners

I find it interesting that when disillusioned poms in oz criticise the Australian political system they often get shouted down and told to accept it or go home. And yet here we have someone saying perhaps it's not worth the worry, and there is outcry about their perceived apathy! Not wishing to bring Oz into the debate but it all cries of double standards.

It sounds like your Aunt is worried about your Mum, and your Mum probably doesn't want to let you know about her problems as she imagines you're having a great life in Australia and she doesn't want you to worry about her. Parents can have a tendency to hide things from their kids if they don't want them to worry. My mum had her gall bladder out earlier this year and only told me about it after her operation! We were in an awful situation earlier this year, phone call in the middle of the night to let us know my partners father had a severe stroke and was in hospital. Speaking to a lot of our expat friends this is their worst nightmare. We went back for a 3 week visit and spent some time with him, then we came back to Oz. Leaving him in the hospital was probably the hardest thing my OH has ever done, as he knew he would probably never see his Dad again. He passed away a few months later from a secondary stroke a few days before he was due to leave hospital. That event, and the fact that we're now expecting a child, has changed our priorities and we've decided we don't want to be on the other side of the world to get another phone call like that again. Australia has been good to us but the situation is now that the gains are no longer outweighing the sacrifices in terms of being nearer family and other things we love. It sounds like you like living in Australia, but don't love it. Most of your satisfaction here possibly comes from your job, which may not be there forever. Can you get a similar job in the UK? Doesn't have to be that close to your Mum, but close enough to visit on weekends etc. You've still got to have your own life and be able to do the things you want to do. I think a lot of people who have spent a long time travelling probably find it hard to properly settle anywhere, but if you see a stint in the UK as a further adventure then no-one is really losing out, and many people (you and your mum) stand to gain a lot. But yeah, sit down this weekend and get your citizenship forms filled in. Then you can tell your Aunt that you are considering coming back but want to get your citizenship first - I am sure she would understand that. It kind of sounds like you're ready for your next adventure anyway!

Depends how long they HAVE to keep working. It's shocking the number of people in their sixties in both the UK and Australia that still have sizeable mortgages. We have one guy here on the mine site who tends the dewatering pumps in his 70s. He's got a bad back, bad knees and is fearful some young guy will come and take over. He'd like to retire but still needs to pay off his house! I think it also depends what you mean by retiring. My Dad officially 'retired' in his late 50's after paying off his house. He then moved to Cornwall and spent a couple of years bumbling round the garden and riding his motorbike. Then he got a job making replica aircraft, now he volunteers at an aircraft museum (because he's always been a aircraft nerd and should have done something like this yonks ago!). I don't think of him as retired, he now finally has a job doing what he loves despite the fact he doesn't really get paid for it. And his wife volunteers for the Cinnamon Trust who help people with their pets when they are infirm or disabled, she takes about 6 dogs out for walks each day in different locations. Again she only gets fuel money but still doing a very worthwhile job to give back to the community.

We have no set breaks, just take them as and when needed. My boss is pretty chilled out and knows a break is good for productivity. We all go and sit in the planning area to eat our lunch together and read the papers for an hour. It's nice being encouraged to get away from your desk and I know my productivity benefits. If I didn't I would just get slower and s l o w e r and s l o w e r. I heard in Sweden in some companies the computers are timed to turn the monitors off for 10 minutes every hour. Excellent idea methinks!

When did you last live in the UK? Only asking because small business selling quality locally grown/made produce are really starting to boom and I expect this trend will only continue to rise once the economy gets back on its feet. When I lived there I got a veg box delivered from a local farm, I can't do that here. I sometimes shop at the butchers but I know their chicken isn't free range so I get it from Woolies instead, where it is free range or organic. Goes to show a 'local' high street business isn't always better. These people with small business selling fruit or bread are still there, they are becoming far more business savvy and adding value to their products, making their products desirable in the modern market place and in many cases doing really well!! I would suggest that the folks working in Tesco/Asda/Coles/Woolies have absolutely no interest in creating their own businesses, that goes for Australia or the UK. You're arguments don't make Australia any better than the UK and vice versa, big businesses dominate in both but there is still room for the little guy, you just have to go out and find them. I buy as much as possible from local small businesses but true local products are a bit of a rarity here, I'm talking about a choice between beer, gold and honey! So it all depends where you are too.

So glad to hear you have settled back into UK life well. Sorry to hear about your loss as well but glad you could be there for him.

Hope you can find something to make the time pass quickly. We are working on a similar time frame to you, pending job availability back in the UK. I have my pregnancy to keep me occupied but at times it feels like the baby is trapping me here. But it makes so much more sense for me to continue work here until baby comes as we have calculated that by the time I give up work we will have just paid off the UK mortgage (almost to the week so I hope nothing crazy happens). We are both a bit fed up at work due to various reasons and I could easily go home tomorrow given the opportunity. I have just spent 5 days in Perth having a nice break, seeing some friends and getting some shopping in. My partner flew back separately for work but I drove home yesterday. For 6 hours I was fine until I got into the Kalgoorlie town limits, when I promptly started to cry! Probably mainly due to hormones and partly due to feeling a bit trapped here. I hold nothing against Kalgoorlie itself, I criticise it for the same things I criticise most places in Australia. But yes, life is boring here. Can't wait to take my baby back to the UK where they can grow up with cousins an the rest of the family nearby (they will have a cousin 7 months older). I have the birth date to tick off the days until, after that it's a case of job hunting in the UK. Recently I have told a lot of friends and family that I'm pregnant. The first thing they ask is 'when are you coming back then?'. Makes me sad. I know we are perfectly free to move right now if we really want to, but it feels like we are so close to achieving one of our ambitions when we moved here (to pay off the UK mortgage), so we're going to try and stick it out. It should, in theory, be worth it in the end.

Yes I've heard a lot of the Cornish went to South Australia. I can't help think that they might have done something awful to pasties here though like put peas in them or use minced beef! Please correct me if I'm wrong! I'm in Kalgoorlie, another mining town where bakers do sell 'pasties' but they bear no resemblance to the real thing, they just have ground up mush inside. I make my own in winter, got a good recipe going, only problem is I can't get clotted cream here which makes the best pasties. Butter has to suffice. But next time that Cornish Festival comes around I think I'll be back in the real Cornwall, can't wait! There used to be a saying that at the bottom of every hole in the world you would find a Cornishman. Now it's not so much Cornishman but you'll probably find someone who graduated from the Camborne School of Mines, I should know, there are at least 4 of us in the mine where I work and 2 or 3 where my OH works. I think I could make a killing if I opened a real pasty shop here!

If you can afford to do it, why not? Though you might not be able to hammer it down the M1 too often....

We are thinking of doing that, but it will depend on OH's job situation. I want to see some more of Australia, he then wants to see Hawaii and maybe go via a couple of spots in the US to watch Nascar. But he also wants to ship his motorbike to Turkey and then ride it back to the UK through Europe. Originally he wanted to ride all the way but he can't get a visa for Russia from Australia (he would need a longer visa than the normal tourist visa). We did also consider driving our 4x4 back, but with a little one on the way I'm very much tempted to put that into the 'too hard' basket! I suppose any itinerary would depend on which countries you've already been to, are there any you really want to see, and how adventurous you are? I've visited Kazakhstan and Tajikistan and they are really different (anyone on this forum that thinks Australia is a vastly different country to live in compared to the UK really needs to get out more!), but fascinating especially Tajikistan it has the most awesome scenery. You could do south america then north america, we went to the US last year for 3 weeks and really enjoyed it. How much money have you got? Antarctica? Much easier to get to from this end of the world.

Well I've just had to send off all my certified degree certificates and transcripts to my professional body as I'm applying to become chartered. I have always put what class degree I got on my CV so interviewers haven't needed to ask me. It probably all depends on what field we're talking about. In mine, Geology, degrees are incredibly varied and I've been reminded time and time again that my university was truly great and unlike so many it does have a very highly respected reputation for turning out really good geologists and engineers. The difference is, my degree set us up for work in the mining industry, we have modules which taught many practical skills which are sadly lacking at many other universities. It makes a big difference when your uni owns it's own mine and you can actually DO the things that you're likely to do upon graduation. The graduates I work with now have degrees which were very pure in their approach to geology and they have very few practical skills unfortunately (but they both got 1:1!). It makes a difference when you're hiring someone to work underground if they have actually been underground before! So many people freak out and then just don't do what they're paid to do, actively avoiding it in some cases.

Shame you didn't get on with Cornwall, whereabouts were you? I personally loved living there and found it very easy to make friends but I can see why some would struggle. God I could murder a pasty right now!

I would tend to disagree with this. I didn't see excelling as working my guts out, I saw it as doing myself justice. I got a first for my undergraduate and a distinction for my Masters and was top of my year. I would have been very disappointed with anything less. It comes down to having pride in personal achievement which is something that doesn't seem to be encouraged these days. I now work with a couple of graduates from New Zealand and I have to say I don't think their degrees are worth the paper they're written on unfortunately. Or at least, they were given too much choice about which modules to take and ended up taking really quite irrelevant subjects, especially when you consider what job they were most likely to get. I can't believe I am having to teach them basic report writing skills and Microsoft Word/Excel skills. I also work with another Senior who is totally useless, can't quite believe my boss hasn't sacked him yet. He has faked it but he hasn't made it, if he got made redundant tomorrow he would really struggle to find another job. My Mum always taught me growing up that I was capable of doing anything I set my mind to, and that the world was my oyster. She was spot on. I only hope I can be as good a parent as she is.

You should also consider how easy it may be to get another 457 in the future if you go home before getting PR/Citizenship. My partner is on his third 457 and I am on my second. We intended to get PR this time round but have now just about decided not to get it. As we've now had two stints in Oz we feel more confident that we won't want to come and live here permanently. And even if we one day reverse that decision there would always be other visa options. We would probably only ever move here for a 3rd time if there was another big mining boom in which case it would be easy to get another 457 visa. For us there are advantages in not having PR. We don't have to declare income from our investment properties in the UK, and when we leave we can extract our super. If we didn't extract it and never came to live here again then by the time we retire the annual fees would have sucked it dry anyway.

I just made an order at M&S. I also order regularly from White Stuff (12 pounds for delivery plus they automatically take the VAT off), and fat face (10 pound delivery and will refund VAT if you ask them to after ordering). I also regularly find vouchers for 15% off at White Stuff so ends up at bargain prices, plus they're wonderfully designed clothes and really good quality. Need to get some maternity clothes soon. My friend just ordered from Next and ordered size 10 jeans (as she knows her UK size). They sent her size 12, as size 10 in the UK is equivalent (supposedly) to size 12 here in Aus, so bear that in mind if you order from Next. I might try debenhams instead.

I know you've been through something similar to us. It's a shame it takes a tragedy like the death of a close relative to make you realise what is important (I know this certainly prompted us to reassess). Wish we could all figure it out without so much heartache.

Completely different to our family! We recently announced that we are expecting a baby and without fail almost all of our close family asked us 'so when are you coming back?'. They all want us back home which is nice but also makes it harder work to stay put for now. I've had to explain to them that with 6 months to go it makes far more sense for me to work until the baby is born, especially as we have private healthcare here and we will be well looked after! Anyway just goes to show families can put pressure on without realising it. I think at the end of the day they don't fully understand your situation here. Ultimately though they do want the best for you and in a strange way shows that they do care. They are just like so many people who have never lived here, watch programs like Wanted Down Under and think it's paradise. You know in your hearts where you want to be and that is all that matters. If moving back is what you want to do then you'll make it work, you just need to believe in yourselves and find the courage that helped you get out to Oz in the first place.

We looked into this a little while ago. If you can meet certain conditions you don't have to pay any VAT or import duties as the vehicle is classed as a personal possession. Read here for more info: https://www.gov.uk/importing-vehicles-into-the-uk/vat-duty-and-tax-vehicles-from-outside-the-eu You just have to keep the car for a minimum of 12 months from when it arrives before you can sell it. If you get a removal company in they will be able to help you prepare the car for shipping. Then at the other side it needs to be inspected to ensure it complies with road laws in the UK.

I get the standard 20 days annual leave here versus 24 in the UK. I also get an RDO each month which I can take when it suits (usually). But I work an hour longer each day and somehow manage to get an hours less sleep per night as I have to get up at 5.15am versus 7.30am in the UK. My commute is also longer here but it's company fuel so our car doesn't get used much. Overall I work more hours here but the only reason my work life balance is better here is the fact that my partner isn't working FIFO. When he worked FIFO in the UK it felt like we never had any time together. Plus we get paid a lot more here so that helps.... I don't think sick/parental/personal leave is any better or worse than the UK. Maternity lags behind the rest of western countries with the exception of the US. Studies have shown that better maternity entitlements are more likely to encourage women back into the workforce, like in Scandinavia where you can get a year's pay at 80% of your wage. That would be nice.

Haven't had a wombat on here yet. One of my colleagues and his girlfriend run a wildlife rehab centre. They were brought 'Wandy' last year as a baby. They didn't intend to keep her here as wombats don't generally hang out this way, they're normally found further east. The centre that was going to take her in couldn't at the last minute so she's stayed at Coolgardie. She goes out in the car, sleeps in the bed, gets grumpy and has a tendency to bite! And this is Eric, an emu who has been terrorising our new mill construction area. He's been a bit of a nuisance so he was captured (which as you can see wasn't too much of a struggle!). He was then taken to Coolgardie to the wildlife sanctuary but promptly jumped the fence and 48 hours later was back at the construction site, a distance of over 30km. He has since been re-captured and put in a pen to help him settle down. There's another fairly tame emu called Archie there so we hope they'll become friends (although we don't know what sex either of them are). All started when we had drill rigs on site before the construction commenced, and Eric hung around the drill rig. The drillers fed him ferrero rochers and Shapes. Despite us telling contractors not to feed him they still did, no wonder he hung around!

Hopefully about 1 year for us, barring any strange events!

We used Wridgeways when we first moved from Kalgoorlie to Vancouver, and we found them to be excellent. I think it depends on which depot and which lot of packers you get, ours were really friendly and helpful. Chess were the Australian movers when we moved from the UK to Kalgoorlie 2 years ago. We had used Britannia on the UK side who were really good - packed everything really well, very appreciative of some nice coffees (we had to use up all our tassimo discs!), and we all sat down together at lunch time to watch Bargain Hunt! Chess on the other hand had misread our address and thought we were in Perth, so they were put out when they realised they had to come out to Kalgoorlie and decided to do it all in one day. Suffice to say they didn't have time to unpack or remove any packaging except for one kitchen box. And from that box they managed to lose two small items, one a lid for a handmade garlic pot and the other the flat base for a flan tin. I think it was because they were small items and they didn't check through all the paper in the box. I was pretty annoyed about this even though they were pretty low value things. To think they made it all the way to Kal to get thrown away at the last moment! Anyway, everything else arrived in perfect condition. Chess were actually fairly accommodating when we picked the motorbike up from their depot in Perth, and they had unpacked that well it didn't have a mark on it, but that's probably more due to the good packing and care taken by Britannia in the UK. We've never used Pickfords, always found them to be far too expensive compared to other quotes.

Wendee, it's talking about the same brands. Everyone knows different brands will taste differently, but people may be intrigued to know that Cadbury's in the UK tastes batter than Australian Cadbury's (in my opinion anyway). I do wish you would stop trying to pick arguments.

Ireland would be nice, saw a job recently for a Resource Geo in Northern Ireland for Dalradian Resources, and thought if that came up in 2 or 3 years I would be on it like a shot! Applying for chartership this year so that should open a few more doors in the future. Not so critical now as we're not listed at the moment, which is an interesting position to be in. I've always reckoned Greenland would be really interesting. Just love the thought of glaciers receding and revealing beautiful big massive sulphide zones! Sorry, totally off track from the original post! But yeah, lets just say that in a few years if the right job or opportunity comes up in Europe, it will be an easy choice for me to make.

Comes down to other factors though, as well as taking into account salary (and I've just had a $15k payrise thanks very much!), we also took into account both being able to work in the same town on residential rosters, but for different companies. So we get to see each other every day, but we don't have all our eggs in one basket, which I'm thankful about at the moment. My company is doing very well and looking to expand next year (one of the only ones in Kal that is), whereas my OH's company is taking more drastic cost-cutting measures and aren't hiring anyone, not even replacements. We had to balance earning potential against liveability. Going anywhere else would invariably involve FIFO, which has it's own costs and ain't no good if you're thinking of having a family any time soon. For a couple where both halves are in the mining industry, living somewhere like Kal allows us to be together but also progress our careers. We also don't need more money than what we're earning right now, only greed would make us want FIFO jobs for more money. One of our incomes goes back to the UK and is paying off our mortgage. in 12 to 15 months time I'll hopefully be writing a post in PIO saying we've just paid off our house in Cornwall after 4 years of owning it (first time buyers). No-one I know in the UK could ever dream of doing that and for that reason alone I'm incredibly grateful for our earning potential in Australia. All my friends back home are on their 25 year mortgages and they'll take 25 years to pay them off. I have a friend working in Mali as a Senior Geotechnical Engineer. He counts down the weeks to go in terms of burgers. Every sunday they have burgers, so on Facebook I see comments like '4 burgers to go'. Having experienced something similar, I don't envy that.