fourcorners

Went past my sisters house in Mytholmroyd and past mums in Holmbridge. My sister posted on facebook she was so proud of Yorkshire and so glad she lives there, best place in the world!

Back to the UK with any luck. We have houses in Cornwall and Devon but it's now a question of finding work. Our little girl is nearing 3 months, the hardest 3 months of my life! Just want to be where I feel like I belong and where she can grow up with cousins and know her grandparents. We might just get fed up and go without having jobs secured - Christmas is the cut off as we don't want another one here. It's much easier finding work when you're in the same country anyway.

Interestingly we are back in Australia, in Kalgoorlie again. Unfinished business one might say! Hopefully not for too much longer though.... From our time there I remember BC was always considered one of the more expensive parts. I really liked Victoria as it had a very colonial feel and much more character than Van.

I can't tell you much about Toronto but when we first left Aus we moved to Vancouver. After living in the outback I found it very wet, cold at first and a very grey/concrete city. And all territories are different but what got to me in BC was expensive food, very expensive wine, very expensive car insurance ($2k for a ford focus), having to pay to receive calls on a mobile. But these were minor annoyances the main reason we lasted 9 months was the fact that I worked fifo and didn't see my partner much, we also are not city people and Van just didn't suit us. I worked up in northern BC and loved the people and scenery, saw lots of bears and swam in freezing lakes! Most of this is probably totally irrelevant to you but if you have any more specific questions I may be able to help.

Well, we've had some developments. The job market in the UK is pretty terrible in terms of mining/consultancies. The one job OH applied for in Devon we haven't heard back about, all the other are silent too - I don't think they are really considering anyone who isn't physically in the country. But he had an interview for a job in Salt Lake City this morning, and even want to fly him (possibly all of us!!) over for an interview. The package would be base salary of around $100k, 30% potential bonus, relocation (including two lots of flights if we want to go over to find a house first) and decent pension. He hasn't asked about the visa situation yet or whether we would need to be married to get a visa (shotgun wedding anyone?), and if any potential visa would allow me to work. It's not the UK, but it is the northern hemisphere and a lot more accessible for friends/family to visit us. My cousin lives there too, she's just moved there from New Zealand after a quick wedding in Las Vegas! Cost of living looks to be much cheaper as well. Another adventure on the cards?? We would still view it as being a shorter term thing, we both want bubs to have a childhood in the UK, I don't want her to get an American accent!

If you want hills, look to the west of Harrogate in the Pennines. My grandparents and Uncle used to live there, we used to visit and take the dogs around Swinsty/Fewston reservoirs, very nice part of the world. You'd probably get slightly more for your money nearer Otley. Or if you prefer flatter land go towards Wetherby or York. Love York! My sister lives in Hebden Bridge just west of Halifax. I went up there last year and was amazed at how long it took to get between places in West Yorkshire, so many 20/30/40 speed limits it drove me nuts!

I think this is fairly standard now, both my friends who returned a few years ago were told the same. One used the guarantor, the other paid the 6 months.

You may lose out on interest but if the exchange rate worsens you could be even worse off in 6 months. With that amount you'd probably become a 'preferred' customer and might get a better interest rate.

Cornwall or Devon. In fact would be quite happy to move back to our house in Cornwall right now! Miss the beaches, lovely seaside towns, the coast path, the moors, pasties (of course!), great local produce and occasionally wild weather.

I had my baby here 5 weeks ago and had a very good experience in the health system, if that is if any comfort. We sent off her passport application last monday and it's going to be about a 2 month wait. Makes me feel slightly trapped to be honest as I'd love to go home just for a visit and let her meet all her relatives. But we have to wait and it's hard without the extra support from extended family. So if you think you might struggle without that extra support for 3 months post-birth, and if none of your family can come over to help, then I would seriously consider trying to move before you give birth. On the other hand having your baby here would give them Australian citizenship, opening doors for them in the future.

Why not indulge her for a couple of years? Is there any way you could take a sabbatical from your job and rent your house out? She has been happy to live here in Aus for you, and to build a comfortable life, how about you put financial gains on hold/aside for a year or two and go and live in the UK. You could view it as an adventure, time to get back in touch with her family (and for them to spend some quality time with your young child), explore europe. Nothing is forever, you then may decide you really like living there and stay longer, or your wife may decide that her life is actually in Australia. Living in the UK, as living here in Oz, is what you make of it. The economy is picking up there, most of my relatives haven't really been affected too much during the recession, all having a good time!

Hi All, Just wanted to let you know I gave birth to our baby girl Abigail Elizabeth on the 11th of April at 2.16am. She weighed 3.46kg and is absolutely gorgeous. I have to say that after initial worries about the health serviuce here, once I was in the hands of my obstetrician (who is English, 66 years old and really knows his stuff!) I felt much happier about the whole thing and my experience at the hospital was great too. All of the midwives were wonderful, although interesting to note that most of them are not Ozzies, my delivery midwives were Greek and English, and there are a fair few from South Africa too. My labour was rather rapid, total active labour time 4.5 hours, gas and air only. I went from 7cm to pushing in the space of four contractions! Took everyone by surprise and I was a bit shell-shocked afterwards but then spent 3 days in hospital as they like to keep you in until milk comes in. So just getting used to motherhood right now, everything is going ok apart from some breastfeeding issues, not helped by the public holidays (the lactation consultants work only on mondays and fridays!). My OH ended up being the preferred candidate for the PNG job. But it turned out they are a PNG based company and couldn't take on our 457 visa. There could possibly have been a way round involving my company taking on our 457 visas and moving to Perth, but we've decided we don't want to do that, so he's pulled out of the application process. It was encouraging for him to know that he was preferred over candidates with 10 years more experience. But we've also decided (since the birth, incidentally!) that FIFO isn't the way forward for us. I suspected his feelings may change following the birth anyway, but it's served as a major reality check. So we'll probably stay put for the time being until a really good opportunity crops up in the UK. Whether that's working for someone else or ourselves, we shall see, but I think now we have more time to make a proper decision and won't rush into anything. Thanks everyone for your thoughts above, it really helps to get others perspectives!

I find it interesting that meth use is relatively very low in the UK compared to eastern europe, USA/Canada and Australia/New Zealand. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23453028 Seems it's too expensive in the UK and harder to produce, so other drugs are more popular. Interesting article about meth use in Australia: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/the-other--faces-of-meth-20131118-2xptw.html All I know is that it was a bit scary to think that there are labs in towns like Kalgoorlie http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-29/police-remove-children-from-home-with-suspected-drug-lab/4719744 so it's certainly not limited to cities.

Well the HR for the PNG job have been asking a few more details about his current visa so he's obviously still in the running. I did think I was going into labour this morning so have a few more pressing things to deal with!

Well, he had his interview on Tuesday and we will find out if he's made it through to the second round of interviews early next week. Most of the questions asked were about management aspects rather than technical, in particular cross-cultural awareness as I think they have a few problems along those lines. He didn't feel hugely confident about the interview, and we get the impression they've had a lot of applications. Problem is now he's a bit disheartened he's started applying for all sorts, mentioned Nevada last night.... Whilst I kind of agree with the 'if I was single where would I want to be' thought process, at the end of the day we are a family and I cannot just put my own needs first. I know I would rather be in the UK, but in this case we are in agreement that the UK is where we will end up, it's not like I'm fighting for that at all. Conversely I know if my OH were single and could live anywhere it would be Canada, but he's not there, he's here with me! So we feel like we're on the verge of starting our journey back to the UK, it's just a case of where we might go on the way back.....

Looks great, you could really inject some character back into it. I wonder if it has any nice fire places lurking!

Thanks everyone for your replies, it's kind of nice to know some of you don't think we're completely bonkers for even considering a move at this stage. I feel that we are quite resilient and self-sufficient but part of me is thinking will that continue once the baby arrives? My homesickness, whilst it's kind of always there in the background, is quite manageable but I don't know if it will change once we're a family. Neither of us feel that the PNG job is an opportunity of a lifetime, it just happens to be a good career move and a job he is likely to be offered (though nothing guaranteed of course). There may be the option to stay in Kalgoorlie for a few months but his 12 days off would probably become 10 at home by the time he's flown from PNG to Cairns to Perth (possibly stopping at Darwin or Alice Springs on the way) and then on to Kal. So not an easy commute and something he'd probably only want to do a few times. Part of the job offer would cover relocation including 1 months accommodation and car hire, so the transition wouldn't be too difficult (we've had much worse!). My OH has always craved adventure and gets itchy feet pretty quickly. I think he likes the idea of working somewhere a bit more unusual before we settle back in the UK. If we were to consider FIFO jobs based in the UK it would likely be Africa where I think I would worry about his safety more, the rosters wouldn't be as good (6 weeks on 3 weeks off is about the best), but I would be based in the UK with family nearby. Well, we'll see how the interview goes I guess!

Yes actually one of my good friends is due to give birth at the end of March, we're only 2 weeks apart. She has been here for 9 years now and is very settled, her OH is a local and they have all of his family around. I did let her know about my OH's job interview just so it's not a major surprise for her if we do leave.

That sucks! I guess that's in construction? I've always got the impression mining rosters are a bit better than construction. When my OH worked in Karratha some of the guys worked 6 weeks on 1 week off and that was construction. When I was FIFO in Canada it was 2 weeks on 2 weeks off! But I guess everyone is pulling their belts tighter and mines may start to squeeze the rosters too.

Hi All, Right we've been in Kalgoorlie for another 2 1/2 years, and I'm starting my maternity leave next week (bubs is due on April 13th). We did have intentions of moving back to the UK this year and my OH has been applying for jobs there. But so far none have really moved forward and we are now wondering what to do. We could stay put, but my OH is desperately unhappy in his role at the moment. His mines have just been bought by another company who basically are so focused on production and shareholders that they are trying to get around serious safety issues. Anyway he has an interview next week FIFO to Papua New Guinea. The roster is 16 days on 12 days off, which isn't too bad. But in reality this will probably entail us moving somewhere closer like Cairns, so he can really maximise his days off and each swing we can have 12 days of quality family time together. But it's all worrying, I'm about to have my first baby, everything feels like it's going to change, how will I cope 16 days at home with the baby, won't know anyone over there, is it going to be stinking hot etc! Here I have several good friends (I've known them for 10+ years), know the town and weather etc, but I've never been really attached to Kalgoorlie. Basically, the job will mean OH can get some really good experience in a field that one day we may be able to set up business in back in the UK. We could possibly embark on that sooner but working in Oz an extra year would just give us a bit more of a safety net in terms of cash. So is 12-18 months of FIFO from Cairns worth it before heading back? Advantages are seeing more of Australia (and having time to see it), building up a bit more of a cash buffer, getting better experience for our business idea, getting OH out of an unhappy work situation, living near the sea. Disadvantages are upheaval for me and baby, lack of friends/things we know, possible loneliness for me (+ possibility of post-natal depression), and delaying a move back to the UK (disappointing for us but also family back in the UK). OH is considerate, he actually brought up the subject of PND the other day so don't get me wrong he really does care about my mental welfare and knows this would be a stressful move. And on the other side of the coin I would hate to force him to stay in a job which could end up affecting his mental well-being and stress levels. We just feel like there isn't a logical way back to the UK this year as the only way would be to set up this business which we don't quite feel 100% ready for. Ways to mitigate some of the disadvantages would be for him to work 3 or so swings from Kalgoorlie, so we wouldn't move to Queensland until baby is several months old. He has also promised a trip back to the UK this Christmas if we are still living in Oz at that point (this is something he would have to negotiate for with the new job - normally they don't allow people to take leave until after they have served 12 months). In Kalgoorlie we have only ever had one visitor, which was my mum back in 2006 when we lived here before. She is coming out again at the end of this month. Would Queensland be a more attractive destination for visitors I wonder, or would they still find excuses! Are we mad to be considering this with a baby so close? I know so many people advise against making big life decisions whilst pregnant/with newborn. Of course he hasn't had the interview yet, but we know he has a good chance as it's his old company (before his mines were bought), so he knows a couple of the interviewers and knows that they rate him pretty highly. Anyway, think I just had to get that off my chest! It's a bit of a complicated situation I know but I would appreciate any thoughts. Thanks for reading!

I think rosters can have a big bearing on your happiness no matter where you live. We actually moved to Australia again to get away from a horrid roster. We lived in Cornwall but my OH was working 6 weeks in Karratha, then having 3 weeks off (but travelling in his own time). His jet lag and the travel time meant he only had about 2 good weeks at home each swing, during which time I worked as well. So we moved down to residential jobs and it has been a good decision from that point of view. We're now considering another FIFO stint, I am starting maternity leave next week and my partner has an interview next week FIFO to PNG. But the roster is 16 days on 12 days off, which certainly isn't the worst in the world. We'll see how the interview goes and what his pay etc will be, I think I could do another year of that but not much more, then we'll definitely be moving back to the UK!

My Dad has had a diesel one for a couple of years, it is gutless, especially when he uses it to pull a motorbike trailer up and down the A30 in Cornwall! But mainly they just use it for taking the dogs for walks and the fuel economy suits them very well. That said their other car is a Cube, so I don't put much faith in his ability to choose good cars these days!

Why is this in UK news and chat?

I'd rather pay more for locally reared, locally slaughtered meat. It just isn't possible here in Kal, unless I buy half a lamb from a friend in Southern Cross but I don't have the freezer space at the moment. So instead I try and eat less meat. In the UK we used to eat a lot of venison that my OH's father shot (as part of deer management programs). It was somewhat variable, but you felt good knowing the animal had a natural life and a relatively stress-free death. I think if we return OH would take up deer stalking again, say hello to endless game casseroles and curries! It's interesting that all Coles meat is halal slaughtered, certainly not something they advertise widely, is Woolies the same?

My obstetrician is affiliated with my fund, so there is no gap in the fees and all my costs in hospital, no matter what happens, will be covered by my insurance. So it really depends on your cover, and what the arrangement is between your fund and your service provider. So from a financial point of view I have piece of mind about any costs associated with my labour. Which is a really nice thing to have, one less thing to worry about!